


Welcome to Rapture

by Cinnamonchipmunk



Category: BioShock 1 & 2 (Video Games), Original Work, Welcome To Rapture
Genre: Blood, Gore, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Soft Vore, Violence, Vore, Welcome to Rapture - Freeform, death and fighting, safe vore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22316884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnamonchipmunk/pseuds/Cinnamonchipmunk
Summary: A man named Syrus finds his plane crashed in the middle of the ocean with only one place to go: A lonely lighthouse.Delving inside, he learns of an abandoned underwater city named Rapture where everyone is completely mental and homicidal. Well, mostly everyone.
Kudos: 14





	1. Ocean Tides

He didn’t hate water, but right now he could certainly do without it.

Syrus had grown ‘homesick’. He, himself, had never gone or been to Scotland, but that’s where his lineage and heritage came from. Sure, he had a house in the woods a decent ways away from the nearest town, but he knew it wasn’t the same. After ‘finding’ enough money, he decided to take a trip to visit his homeland, connect with the moores or something. Or maybe he’d stay, he didn’t really have much back home anyways.

But the plane he took went down over the ocean, leading to his situation.

Salt was all he tasted, coating his tongue and throat as he surfaced. He coughed out the fluid to clear his airway to breathe in the cold night air, unable to smell anything but the salt water around him. Unsure if anyone else had survived, he looked around to try and see someone but no one was there. Not alive at least. Seeing no one else, he carefully swam around floating pieces of metal and fabric, trying to see if there was anything other than the wreckage around. The heat of the engine fire as he passed the front end of the plane heavily contrasted the cold water he was swimming in and if he was out of the water he would have shuddered due to his body unsure of whether it was overheating or freezing.

Syrus passed what he thought was the tail of the plane and saw something protruding from the waves, thinking it was another part of the plane for a second. But he quickly registered a light at the top and the general shape of it, realizing it was a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. Urged by instinct and a want to get dry, he swam as fast as he could towards the building, finding the steps that circled the building to reach the water.

He clambered out of the water and spat up more salt water, throat sore from the saltiness and made it difficult to swallow and clear his throat. He had some scrapes and bruises from the crash, a gash on his leg, but his metabolism was already working. A blessing and a curse as it was healing the damage from the crash, but each second depleted his iron and brought him closer to Bloodlust.

Having regained his bearings and as satisfied as he could be considering the situation, he made his way up the steps, finding the door at the top already open. And hoping someone else made it and was inside, a food source if not someone helpful, he hesitated only momentarily before going inside. He expected a dark interior and steps up to possible living quarters where he hoped to find a possible human.

Instead, he was met with a brightly lit cold metal interior with a metal statue of a man hanging from the ceiling and holding a red banner with the words ‘No Gods or Kings. Only Man.’ in gold lettering. Beneath the statue was a hole surrounded by a solid railing giving a small view to a floor below and on the walls were metal panels with designs that looked like a sun with waves beneath it and clouds above. Behind the statue in the wall were two stairwells that led into darkness.

Syrus saw a plaque on a pedestal in front of the statue, but he didn’t care about whatever human affair led to what happened here, only caring to get out of the middle of the ocean.

“Petty,” he muttered as he saw it, knowing that it was either commemorating what looked like a human leader, or memorialized a tragedy. Either way, he wasn’t interested.

He moved around the circle to the two stairwells and, going down one of them, saw they joined on a landing a short way down that had another short stairwell facing the opposite direction of the other two that were on either side of it. And at the bottom of those steps was a small sort of balcony with stairs on both sides that curved along the wall before meeting the floor at the bottom to complete a circle.

Down the steps he took, there was another plaque on the wall but this was was more simple, a design etched in metal involving an amalgamation of art symbols with the word ‘ART’ on its lower center. And at the bottom of the steps in a circular pool of water was a spherical machine.

“Curious,” he said, looking it over. “Never seen this sort of machinery before.”

Aside from thinking that the architect loved circles, Syrus wondered what this place was while he looked at the contraption curiously. He’d never seen anything like it, but it seemed active with lights and steam, and after a minute of inspection it seemed nonthreatening. Still, he stepped closer for a better look, and after a minute decided it was safe enough to at least step inside.

Only for the sound of the door closing behind him catching his attention.

“Hey!”

He quickly whirled around and slammed into the door to try and force it open, stopping when everything jolted and the sphere began to descend into the water, able to be seen from the door window. He wasn’t even sure how deep a fathom was, only that every second the machine carried him deeper into the depths. Statues and architecture could be seen outside, but that was the least of his worries. He tried not to panic a little, unused to such a small space and the restlessness caused by the lack of iron wasn’t helping.

The window on the door made a sound as though something else was trying to shut, but nothing happened, the only functioning mechanics being light and movement from the sphere. And after a minute of being in the dark, travelling through what looked like a tunnel under the lighthouse, the sphere left the confines of stone. It revealed a city under the water, a glance up showing that the surface was well out of a simple swims reach.

The dark silhouettes of buildings were lit by vibrant signs and massive stage-lights, pathways surrounded by glass connecting each building and section together in an awing sight with the light refracted by the water dancing on the glass and metal outsides of the city. Fish and other ocean life swam around the walkways and buildings as though there was nothing at all surprising about an underwater civilization at the bottom of the ocean.

Syrus was a mix of awed and perturbed at the sight, having never seen or heard of anything like this made by humans before. There was the legend of the Atlantis, but as his oceanic tour of the city came to a close, the city’s name was shown by a tunnels entrance into the side of a building, ‘Rapture Transit’ glittering in the lights around the edge of the tunnels entrance. A rush of relief flooded him as the sphere stopped and began to surface, eventually breaking through the water.

He hadn’t exactly been expecting a warm reception, but as the door opened and he stepped out, it was obvious the place was at least in heavy disarray, if not abandoned. There was a path that led to actual solid floor, flanked by the water holding the sphere, and he could see the ocean outside the wall of glass in front of him, a tiger shark swimming by and reminding him that he was out of his depth and wasn’t the top f the food chain here.

One crack in the glass and he doubted it’d hold.

The furniture on this entrance area was turned over and scattered while papers littered the ground, suggesting a struggle at some point. Whatever the actual state of the place, it was obvious nothing had been maintained for years, and Syrus was surprised the underwater sphere even worked.

Beneath the strong smell of salt water was the scent of mildew and mold, something even a person with regular senses could tell, making him sneeze. But under that he could smell blood. Decay and rot.

Death.

He heard the creaks and groans of the structure settling against the ocean outside, a constant reminder of the threat literally at the windows, and he couldn’t tell if the smell of blood was fresh or old. The cold, somewhat humid air probably keeping blood fresher for longer than if it was at dry room temperature.

Syrus debated going back the way he came, but he didn’t know how to work the machine and all that was back was a wreckage and lonely lighthouse.

So he pushed forward, body aching as it craved more iron, and in turn blood. The smell of salt water faded slightly while the scent of rot got worse the deeper he went in. The halls felt like a maze, finding it difficult to know where to go, even with his eyesight helping to see in dim light. Eventually, he went up a set of stairs, coming out in what looked like a far more open entrance hall. It was well lit and he wondered where the building, or city even, got the power it needed.

There was a feeling of being watched, but glancing around showed no one in the room with him or on the steps behind him.

He took a steadying breath, chalking it up to his iron deficiency taking hold, knowing it made him antsy. As he stepped toward the stairwell to the next floor, something dropped in front of him on all fours.

He gasped and backed away in surprise, the thing lunging at him with claws that glinted in the light. Crying out, startled by their sheer agility and jumped away, claws catching on his turtleneck and making a slash in the abdomen.

“You got some ADAM little fish?!”

Syrus hissed in pain as the slash cut through both fabric and skin, the thing jumping at him again. But rather than try to dodge again, he reacted to intercept, able to grab the wrists of his attacker. The force of the attack knocked him back into a wall, but he stayed standing, growling at whatever had lunged.

It wasn’t a feral creature in the traditional sense. It was a human male, dressed in ripped and stained semi-formal clothing that obviously hadn’t been washed in who knew how long. The claws weren’t claws at all, but hooks the human had fashioned into weapons, rusted over and would probably give another human Tetanus if they survived a strike. The owl-esque mask that had been on the mans face was knocked off a little, revealing a deformed face with a distorted grin, crazed wide eyes staring back at Syrus.

“Ooooh, little fish is feisty,” the man purred, struggling to pull away, even though he was smaller than Syrus.

Syrus grimaced in disgust at the attackers breath, arguably worse than the mans scent itself, almost tempted to believe all the rotting stench was coming from the one human. He pushed the man away and braced himself for more attacks.

“Back off or things will get ugly,” he warned. He wasn’t against taking away a humans life, especially to keep him from going into Bloodlust, but he saw himself as fair and to at least give the man warning to back down from his stupidity.

“Not unless you give me YOUR ADAM!!!”

The mans voice grew in both anger and desperation as he leapt forward to attack again, yelling as he did so. But Syrus was ready for another lunge and, while one of the hooks scratched his cheekbone, he knocked them out of the humans hands. The man continued to try and punch him, but Syrus dodged, hitting the man in the back and knocking him against the wall he himself had just been pressed against, stunning the human.

As the mask fell off entirely, Syrus restrained the man as his tongue extended, splitting into three at the end and latching onto the crook of the humans neck. As his teeth followed suit, bile rose in his throat while he kept the human from struggling too much. Both the man and his blood tasted abhorrent, the blood even tasting chemical, but the lack of iron in his system urged him to drink fervently.

Within a minute, the human had been depleted, struggles and warmth fading with each gulp.

Syrus let the body go and wiped away the excess blood from the corner of his mouth, shuddering at the disgusting taste left over in his mouth and throat. But, blood was blood, and already his body was making use of the iron supplied to heal the cuts, scrapes, and probable bruising from the last hour or so. Blood Sac somewhat full, he began to search for an exit once more.

\-----

Someone new was here.

It’d been days, weeks, maybe even months since the last victims. One could never really tell after a while, each day blurring to the next. It certainly didn’t help that each hour was spent in a constant state of anxiety and exhaustion, although that wasn’t the point.

Rabbit didn’t expect this one to last any longer than any other. A day or two usually.

If they got past the first hour.

They never understood how some of the Splicers knew when someone else arrived, growing more restless than usual and it helped them track down victims. They traveled by vent and rafter to the Entrance Hall, able to follow the scramblings and mutterings of a couple harried Splicers, each hoping for fresh ADAM from a new victim. Usually, they didn’t find it, newcomers preferring and not even given the chance to stab their arms with questionable needles that littered the ground.

In the end, lives were lost to to a greed so consuming it affected almost everyone that stepped into Rapture and survived a few days, Victims turning into their own Splicers.

Rabbit paused as they heard a death-scream echoing from the Entrance Hall, tilting their head as they thought. Another day, another victim dead. They were tempted to go back to their Nest, but decided to see if the body had anything useful like a lighter or pocket knife. They may be common on the surface, but down here most were broken or made useless by rust and used by Splicers.

Their steps weren’t completely silent, but they were close, black dress shoes outfitted with a gripping foam on the soles. It helped with traction and soundproofed their steps somewhat. Soon, they came to an opening in the vents and looked out, keeping themselves in the shadows as they peered out.

Rabbit was surprised.

They saw the Victim drop the body of a Splicer and wipe some blood from their mouth. Maybe a headbutt or a punch from the Splicer. But it obviously didn’t win the fight, body crumpling lifelessly to the floor. They felt curious but not very hopeful. Some victims killed their first Splicer but still never lasted the day. As the Newcomer looked around, they retreated further into the vents.

The Newcomer moved to the steps and as they began to wander around Rapture, Rabbit quietly followed suit. They liked following the Victims, up until their last breath. Some of it was due to the fact that there was someone else that wasn’t crazed by ADAM, wasn’t experimented on by the Doctor, or manipulated by… Atlas. They were fascinated by someone that didn’t attack on sight and were just as helpless as they had been when they first arrived.

It also gave them a moment of reprieve. While Victims were alive, most Splicers nearby would prioritize them over Rabbit and almost entirely ignored them. They knew Rabbit would fight, and it wouldn’t be easy. A Victim was easier prey, an easy stepping stone to get up the Spliced food chain.

Down here, strength mattered.

ADAM mattered.

The Newcomer obviously didn't know their way around, stopping and looking around frequently at each turn as though to get their bearings. They murmured to themselves occasionally after a bit, although too quiet for Rabbit to hear. Surprisingly, no other Splicers had attacked.

But Rabbit knew not to rejoice.

The Splicers were putting up an ambush somewhere. It was something they'd learned recently, after the last Victim. They pulled it on Rabbit once, and if there hadn't been a Big Daddy around, they may have died.

They didn't know where it was or would be set up, but they felt like it would be soon and was surprised they hadn't jumped yet, patience not really a Splicers strong suit. But they continued to follow the Newcomer, slowly learning some of their behaviors, like the way they slightly tilted their head left then right before choosing a direction at multiple paths, or how they sometimes tapped the wall with a finger two times before rounding a corner.

At the next turn, there was a decent sized room, big compared to the mildly claustrophobic halls, and as the Newcomer pressed the threshold it was obvious that this was where the Splicers set up.

Rabbit watched as seven Splicers popped up, three dropping from the ceiling, two coming out from behind some pillars and two more pulling away from the wall on either side of the room entrance, having hidden from sight there. Three of them were equipped with hooks, for the ones that had fallen from the ceiling, one had a rolling pin, another a wrench, one with a bonesaw, and the last one had a shotgun. They surrounded the Newcomer.

“OI! Fish,” the largest, the one with the bonesaw bellowed, the 'Alpha' of the group. “Give us your ADAM and we won't tear you apart!”

The Newcomer sighed, intriguing Rabbit.

“What even is ADAM? I doubt it's a person since ADAM isn't my name,” the Newcomer said, male in voice.

Oooh, a backtalker. Those were interesting.

“ADAM is inside of you, inside all of us,” Alpha replied simply, every Splicer forgetting that outsiders didn't know or understand. “And we want more of it.”

“So, if I don't comply, you'll kill me. If I do… you'll kill me? I must say, you need to work on your logic, because I doubt anyone would take that kind of deal.

Rabbit would have chuckled if they could, but they settled for smiling in amusement.

It was a shame, this one was interesting.

The Splicers didn't like the Newcomers response, the Alpha growling at being met with some pretty solid logic before shouting and leaping to attack. The others hung back, ready to attack as well but knew the pecking order to allow Alpha the first shot.

The Newcomer narrowed their eyes, dodging the brutes attack fairly easily, bringing their elbow up and pushing the Alphas nose straight into their skull and killing them. The body fell to the ground and everything was quiet for a few seconds, Rabbit impressed.

But at the sight of their haphazard leader dead on the floor, it was a frenzy.

The five with melee weapons rushed forward, swinging at different intervals, the one with the shotgun hanging off the side. As they slashed and hacked to kill the Newcomer, agility in their side, Rabbit could see them duck and dodge the best that they could. They weren't used to the fast-paced survival environment, although they were a lot better at maneuvering than most other Victims.

Rabbit watched them block the rolling pin with interest, the Newcomer pulling the Splicer closer surprisingly. Something happened and the Splicer clutched their neck as they were pushed away, writhing before slowly going rigid and falling to the ground.

Rabbit straightened in surprise as a chill went down their spine at the sight.

Distracted by the unexpected reaction, they didn't see but heard the shotgun go off, looking back as it hit the Newcomer in the side. But rather than entirely falling down, the Newcomer hissed and turned their attention to it. They narrowly avoided another shotgun blast, a bullet grazing their arm, and rushed the Splicer with the gun. They pulled it from the Splicers hand and threw it to the ground, leaping at the Splicer.

Something came out of the Newcomers mouth and latched onto the Splicer, striking flesh right above their clavicle. This time the Newcomer didn't discard the body as soon, holding it as still as possible for a few seconds before whatever the thing was let go and they let the Splicer go, still alive but paralyzed.

Rabbit was shocked at the turn of events, watching with wide eyes hidden behind their mask as the Newcomer slowly dodged and weaved the Splicers attacks, disarming them before that thing came out of their mouth to paralyze them.

After a while, the Splicers were on the ground except for the one in the Newcomers hands, latched onto the last one for far longer.

Rabbit could only assume they were feeding.

As the Newcomer went back to the other bodies from the one they had been feeding from, Rabbit slowly calmed down, having frozen. This was obviously another one of the Doctor's experiments, though they had no idea how it made it to the entrance hall without knowing about it. Just the thought of the Doctor was enough to make them freeze, paralyzed by flashbacks of a table and bright lights. A scalpel and a paralytic that kept them from fighting but didn't stop the pain enough.

They couldn't just let the Newcomer live. They were obviously too dangerous to leave roaming.

\-----

God, the stench of rotting had gotten worse the deeper into the place he'd gone, smoke mixing in from a fire he had seen along the way. He was pretty sure the only way to get rid of it was literally destroying the city.

Syrus had felt like he'd been watched the entire time, from the Entrance Hall to the room he was in now, fully expecting another attack at some point. So he wasn't surprised when he was ambushed. Surprised at the time and place yes, but the fact that it happened no. What else surprised him was how many there had been, seven with varying weapons. He was glad he had drank the first attackers blood to help balance out the damage he got from this attack, otherwise it would have been far harder to fight.

As he drank the last assailants blood, he grimaced once more at the taste, each one's blood just as nasty tasting as the lasts. He felt his bullet wounds sting as his body prioritized them over some other wounds, slowly healing and regenerating the flesh and pushing out bullets that didn't pass through.

He knew he'd be tired once the adrenaline left his system, so he drank as much blood as he could, gorging himself to heal once he found a safer place to rest. Dropping the last body, his tongue retracted back into his mouth, the length of it coiled behind ribs.

As he straightened a shot rang out and he cried out at feeling a bullet pass through his shoulder, hand instinctively going to the new wound as he quickly looked toward the source of the bullet.

Syrus saw a person in black dress pants and dress shoes, a white button up shirt tucked underneath and a white rabbit mask covering up most of their face. The clothes were a lot less stressed than the other attackers he'd seen, something to note if they weren't currently pointing a gun at him. He jumped away as they shot again, almost getting clipped again, picking up the body of the brute from the ground easily despite the dead weight.

He rushed forward with the body as a shield and saw the person hesitate, obviously debating whether or not to shoot. Thinking he'd be able to bowl them over in their conflict, he cried out when instead they shot at his legs, bullet going through the side of his shin.

Luckily it avoided bone, but it still hurt.

He growled and tossed the body forward, the person forced to move away to avoid getting pinned by the corpse. As they clicked the hammer back on the pistol, he lunged at them, grabbing their wrist and, as they reached to pry him off, he grabbed their other one as well. Squeezing their hand, he forced them to let go of their gun and opened his mouth to paralyze them. He wouldn’t feed since he was full from the others blood, but it would at least prevent them from attacking further.

A crackle of electricity was the only warning Syrus had before his body jolted with an indeterminate amount of voltage, making him scream and let go, quickly backing away. He stared the person down, a mix of surprise and irritation at having been caught off guard. But it’s not like one would just expect a human to wield electricity.

They stood in a defensive pose, as though he would attack first, blue electricity crackling and moving around their body.

“What, you want my ADAM too,” he asked sarcastically. He still wasn’t quite sure what that was exactly, but everyone here seemed to want it for some reason.

Instead of heatedly answering like the rest, they remained silent, surprising him. He couldn’t see their eyes, but the slight tilt of their head showed that they were glancing at the pistol that had been tossed aside. He tensed, bracing himself for them to move, lunging when they ran for the gun. They obviously didn’t want to get within arms reach, and he didn’t want to get shot again. As they grabbed it, he was already too close and before they were able to fire properly, he pushed their arms up, a bullet firing toward the ceiling rather than at him.

They struggled in his grasp but Syrus kept a firm hold, demanding, “Why do you all insist on fighting me?!”

Electricity jumped from them to him, and his body screamed at him to let go, but he forced himself to hold on. Maybe he’d drink the blood of this one too.

They remained silent, something that frustrated him since he wanted answers, and he could feel them shaking a little under his restraint. He was caught off guard when they actually shifted closer, momentarily putting all their weight in his hands. Thinking they were trying to slip free by dead weighting, he held their arms in place and tightened his grip, but found himself both kicked in the face and the stomach. They had used his arms to keep them from falling to the ground as they curled to kick, forcing him to let go in a bit of shock.

Crying out, he covered his nose with his hand a little, feeling the lingering pain and glad it hadn’t gone into his skull. He snarled at them, no longer feeling merciful after enduring multiple fights with these rabid humans and jumped forward, pinning them to the ground as hard as he could. Their rabbit mask finally fell off, revealing the face beneath. Electricity attacked his senses again as he grabbed their throat, their hands reaching up to try and pry him off.

Syrus was done. He was tired and just wanted to leave this murderous maze that had humans coming out of nowhere to go after him. Opening his mouth, his tongue slipped out, tip splitting and ready to inject yet another victim with a paralyzer. They tried getting up and he slammed their head back against the ground.

And registered that they still hadn’t made a noise.

He paused, seeing their mouth open in pain, but heard nothing but a rushed exhale. Frowning in confused curiosity, his tongue stopped its advance and he let go of their throat, thinking for a moment. Keeping them pinned, he grabbed one of their arms and rolled the sleeve up despite their confused squirms, biting them. Not enough to break skin, but enough to hurt.

They reacted once more, but still no noise.

“Can… Can you not speak,” he asked, brow furrowing in surprise.

Letting go of their arm, they immediately pulled it away and pushed him off in his confusion, scooting away a bit. They stared back and even a moron could tell that they were conflicted in their thoughts, eventually nodding a little.

Now Syrus felt like a dick, saying, “I-I’m sorry, I had no idea… That’s why you weren’t answering.” He stood up and offered a hand.

They flinched and bared their teeth, electricity still crackling along their skin but it was dimmer than before, a warning. But this was the first one that had seemed to have more intelligence, or at least less aggression despite having attacked first. So he pressed, moving closer slowly while trying to reassure them.

“Look, I won’t hurt you anymore… Even though you shot me first,” he pointed out, something they weren’t happy with.

They bristled before looking around, glancing at him warily every few seconds. Eventually they carefully got up, staring at him as though to make sure he stayed in place, which he did so as to not destroy what little trust they had for him. They walked up to one of the shelves against the walls and picked up a paper on the floor, grabbing something else before walking over. They wrote on it with a broken pencil, handing it to him before backing from arms reach.

‘Doctor’s experiment. Too dangerous to keep alive.’

Confused he looked up, seeing them glare at him in both determination and fear. They pointed at the note, then at him. Then at the bodies scattered on the floor. Oh.

“I don’t know who the Doctor is, but I swear I mean you no harm,” he tried, “I’m no experiment, I just came from the surface. My plane crashed, and with nowhere else to go, I went into the lighthouse. Look, I didn’t even want to come here, I stepped into one of those spherical machines and it brought me here.”

They continued glaring and he knew it would be difficult to prove he wasn’t someone’s experiment, especially since they saw his tongue.

“How can I prove it to you?”

They faltered a little, startled by the response, before tilting their head a little in thought. They gestured for the paper back and wrote on it once more when he did so, handing it to him.

‘Identification’

Syrus frowned. He didn’t have much for identification since he didn’t really care for human laws that much, but he at least had a passport, forced to get one before he could go to the airport and buy a ticket for Scotland. Reaching into his backpocket, the book was incredibly soggy and they tried shaking off as much water as they could. Surprisingly, the thick cover had mostly protected the image, though the name wasn’t so lucky, a soggy ‘Syr’ underneath the picture. Narrowing their eyes at it, they looked at the authenticity before showing it to him and pointing at the name, and then him.

“My name is Syrus,” he filled it in, taking the book back when it was offered. “What’s yours?”

Instead of gesturing for the paper again, they just pointed to the rabbit mask they had been wearing, walking over to it and putting it on.

“Rabbit?”

They nodded, walking over to their gun, something that made him tense. But as they picked it up and looked at him, they simply pocketed it. He watched as they hesitated before turning away and starting to walk off.

“Wait!”

Syrus watched in disappointment as they ignored him, dashing out of sight and when he went to follow they were gone. He sighed, the only other person having just run off. He just hoped they’d be able to recuperate after their fight and that they’d be able to meet again. After all, they were all stuck under the ocean.


	2. Party With Death

Syrus was legal, so Rabbit felt like they should be relieved. But all they felt was continued wariness and apprehension at the Newcomer. It was obvious that it’d be difficult to kill him, attempting to do so even after being drained and wounded from fighting SEVEN Splicers almost leading to their death.

For once in their time down in Rapture, they were glad they had no larynx.

Assessing their wounds in a vent shaft, they shuddered at remembering the fight, especially when the Newcomer’s tongue had slipped out. The thought was enough to chill their insides. They couldn’t really be blamed for thinking he was another of the Doc’s experiments, he’d churned out worse things, although none as deadly as the Newcomer seemed to be. They weren’t sure what he was, but it wasn’t human and they still didn’t trust him.

Reluctantly, they decided that they should retreat back to their Nest to tend to their wounds and rest. It’d been over a day since they last slept, and the last fight was taking a toll. They didn’t want to run into Syrus while he was at full strength and they weren’t.

It took a while to reach their Nest, but it was always worth it since it was secluded. Despite being small, they didn’t mind since it made it more difficult for enemies to try and reach them, more inconspicuous than taking refuge in one of the abandoned bedrooms throughout Rapture. Tiredly, Rabbit didn’t even bother dressing the cuts they had, crawling onto their ‘bed’ of blankets and almost immediately falling asleep.

…

It’d been two days since Syrus had arrived and Rabbit tried to keep track of him as much as possible, a little difficult after resting since they’d lose sight of him for a while, but eventually they’d find him once more due to knowing their way around while he didn’t. They watched as he continuously attempted to follow the exit signs, only for it to either end with a dead end of obstacles, or for the exit to mean something else entirely, like a pathway to another building.

Rabbit knew there was only two ways out of Rapture, one to the abandoned lighthouse, and the other safeguarded by Atlas. Every other way out had been destroyed long before even Rabbit had gotten here.

They were slowly starting to get bored of watching the Newcomer, no one ever making it this far, and the excessive amount of death that followed him from attacking Splicers. But at least it seemed to keep him satiated and he never seemed to attack unprovoked, though it wasn’t hard when a Splicer’s way of greeting you was to leap at you and try to gut you for any ADAM in your system. Syrus had even run into a Little Sister and Big Daddy, stopping at the sight of a child stabbing a corpse with a syringe.

He had seemed defensive and on edge, but at least he had the sense, and possibly morals, to not attack the duo. The Big Daddy only gave the Newcomer a passing glance before focusing on the child once more.

Rabbit eventually slunk away with the knowledge that Syrus would be able to take care of himself. They doubted he’d die anytime soon, and all they could do was hope he didn’t become as ADAM crazed as the rest of them. They knew they wouldn’t survive a full attack from him. They went to the Garden, a place to relax and smelled the least like rotting and decay. There was a variety of trees and plants with an overgrown stone path that winded through it, a stream that cut through the floor in a simulated natural curve. Splicers didn’t really come through, living off of rat flesh and scraps they’d find around Rapture, but Rabbit enjoyed the few fruits that existed there.

A peach certainly tasted better than rotting flesh smelled.

Maybe later they’d go scavenge for supplies and see what trouble Syrus would be making, glad that he was actually dwindling the Splicer numbers in the area.

\-----

Syrus didn’t understand it. Sure he’d get reprieves between each brawl between one of the humans and him, but it seemed like every time there seemed to be even more in the area, though none as plentiful as the lovely ambush his first day. He wondered how many humans lived in this place and how long they'd suffered these conditions. He wondered if they'd all started off this rabid or if something had happened, but the only other person that seemed sane enough had vanished on his first day.

He hoped they were okay after their fight, both of them doing a number on each other. His nerves had remained frayed for a few hours until his body was able to heal the damage that was caused by the electricity and the bullet wounds lasted the night.

They may have been watching him this entire time as far as he was concerned, the feeling of being watched frequently occurring as he traveled further into Rapture.

He was quickly becoming frustrated with the maze that was the city. Everytime he followed the exit arrows, they usually meant out of the current building he was in, and occasionally he'd be blocked off by debris and fires. The only good thing so far was that there had been almost no chance to go into Bloodlust with the amount of Splicers that continued to try and attack him, despite how nasty it continued to taste. But there hadn't been another attack in a few hours, probably a record at this point.

More and more questions were being raised as well: What was this ADAM that each Splicer spouted about? Why was the only child he’d seen so far stabbing a corpse with a syringe while what looked like a human in a diving suit watching over?

He had almost attacked the diving suit before he saw the child in front of it, babbling about ‘Angels’ and calling the thing ‘Mr. Bubbles’.

As he mulled the questions over, he heard a noise. Grainy and crackling. A voice. Curious, he followed it, more difficult than it would seem due to the cold echoing walls, eventually following it to a room that looked just as ransacked as any other.

“Hello! Is anyone there? Please, if you are, kindly answer!”

Syrus paused. It sounded like a human in distress, hesitating a second before picking up the handheld radio that spoke and answering, “Um, hello? Are you alright?”

Instead of answering the question, the voice said, “Oh, thank god you’re alright. The Splicers have been going crazy since Tuesday. Since they haven’t stopped yet, I could only assume someone new had lasted the night in Rapture.” The voice had an Irish accent, the relief in it almost palpable.

“Sorry, but who are you,” Syrus asked, confused as to who this human was and why they were contacting him.

“Ah, apologies boyo, m’ name’s Atlas. What’s yours?”

For some reason he hesitated to say his name, a twinge of distrust in his stomach, but decided there was no real harm in giving it out, especially since this human actually spoke. “Syrus. What are you doing here? Did you crash or get lost somehow?”

“Neither lad, I've lived here almost my whole life. Plasmids prolong a lifespan down here, so those that should have died to old age still look far younger than they're meant to be. I was here when Rabbit came down.”

“Wait, Rabbit?”

“Yeah, quiet little thing, but don't let that fool you. I was surprised when she was able to survive the night, helped by one of our own. Over the course of weeks, the pair were inseparable, fighting and killing to protect each other against Splicers. But Rabbit’s not to be trusted lad. The two had been surrounded by Splicers, neither with enough energy to use their Plasmids, and the battle was going rough. Rabbit saw an opportunity and took it, pushing the poor sap with her into the fray to distract the bastards while she ran off.

“I'm tellin you so you don't get caught off guard when she betrays you in the future. She's trouble boyo, and don't you forget it. The amount of carnage I've seen since she's been here… I'm terrified to cross paths with her. Even going after Little Sisters...”

Syrus blinked in surprise, churning the thoughts over in his head to help sort through the amount of information given. He couldn't really say he knew Rabbit all that well, having only met them for a few minutes. He had no sway either way, but the emotion behind the humans voice voice was convincing. However, he felt Rabbit was at a disadvantage since they couldn’t really speak to defend themselves against the accusation.

“I'm sorry you went through all that…”

“I appreciate that… I'll go into radio silence for now. Splicers closing in. If you want, you can take the radio you found with you. You don't have to though, there's so many scattered around.”

“Thanks, I appreciate the advice Atlas.”

“Talk to ya later boyo.”

As the radio clicked off, Syrus debated whether or not to take it with him, deciding to pocket it in case the other human wanted to contact him or vice versa, though he muted it for the time being. He felt like Rabbit probably wouldn’t like him conversing with Atlas and preferred to not get shot at from the shadows.

Seeing another Exit sign, he sighed before going to follow what was likely to once more be a dead end.

\-----

‘Breakfast’ for Rabbit consisted of three peaches. There was no place in Rapture for fresh meat unless you wanted to try your hand at catching fish or rats. Or humans. But they were fine with smaller meals. At this point they were used to going hungry for long periods of time, whether by being forced to continue moving or by forgetting to eat in general.

With the Splicers still riled up, they doubted even a Big Daddy could handle the amount of mutated citizens that occasionally wandered the main halls at this point to probably find Syrus, otherwise they'd risk a quick shower. For now, they settled with splashing their face with the cold water from the stream and running their hair through the water before tying it back up again.

They picked up their rifle from beside them and slung it on their back, having picked up the weapon from their Nest, and stood up. They needed supplies, and with Medical Pavilion off limits, First Aid was especially needed.

As they stepped from the stream, something whizzed by them and embedded itself in the tree across from them. If they could, they’d yelp, but they quickly whirled around to see who threw it.

“Aw, almost got their ADAM right there, didn’t I?”

Of course it was a Splicer, but it wasn’t alone. Three others advanced with it, each mutated and twisted in their own way but each looking for ADAM, the ones without masks staring at Rabbit with a craving for their fix. Two had guns and the third was crawling on the ground like some of the Splicers adapted to to climb on walls and ceilings, Rabbit calling them Spiders because of their disturbing crawly nature, shards of glass and sharp pieces of metal embedded in the skin from self-infliction to basically give them jagged claws.

The Spider leapt forward, with hands outstretched while Rabbit assessed them momentarily, making them quickly jump aside and burst with electricity as the Spider continued to try and advance to cut their throat. While Rabbit dodged and pulled out their pistol, the unarmed Splicer ran across the stream to grab their machete from the tree before joining the fray.

The Splicers with guns were as bad a shot as most, especially with Rabbit and the Spider dodging and weaving around the other. One of them got a shot off, but it landed on the Spider, hitting the broad of its back and making it screech in pain. While it was distracted with the gun wound, Rabbit was finally able to get a clear shot and blew a hole in the Spiders head, the body collapsing to the ground and twitching.

“Ah, fucking Rabbit,” one of the gunmen said, although there wasn’t much emotion behind the statement, Splicers only attached to ADAM.

The machete Splicer decided to keep its distance to prevent ending up like the Spider, letting the gunmen get their shots off while Rabbit barely dodged. They ended up backing and retreating to the other side of the stream, the cuffs of their pants getting soaked from the running water. As they stepped through, the electrical impulses jumped from them to the waters surface, electrifying the water a little bit.

Once on the other side, Rabbit sent a full blast of electricity at the water, the water glowing and crackling far more than before with tendrils of blue light jumping up from the top. They hid behind a tree as more shots rang out, pulling the rifle off their back and switching their pistol from their hands to their belt.

Aiming from behind the tree, they hit one of the gunmen in the head, body crumpling to the ground before they fired at the other. Ducking back when a shot threatened them, they fired again and downed the other gun-armed Splicer.

By this time, the electricity had dispersed for the most part and the machete wielding Splicer decided it was safe enough to advance while Rabbit finished off the other Splicer, lunging for their head. As they walked through the water, the remaining electricity jolted through them enough to cause a temporary twitch, shaking as they lunged and the machete clanged against the rifle instead. A deep cut carved into the metal of the gun, quickly catching the attention of Rabbit as they rapidly pulled away from the manic Splicer.

“Oi, I can’t wait to drain you of ADAM,” the heavy Scottish accent was filled with glee at fantasizing about their drug, eyes actually sparkling with malicious delight. They swung, then swung again, slowly getting closer and preventing Rabbit from getting a good shot it at anything other than the hem of the Splicers torn dress.

“Get your ADAM, and then get some more~! He promiiiised~.”

Rabbit frowned in confusion, caught off guard by the Splicers confidence and statement. The momentary falter was enough for the Splicer to get an edge on them. Literally.

While they avoided the brunt of the attack, the edge of the dulled blade still scraped across their lower cheek that wasn’t protected by their porcelain mask, tracing the Splicer and Rabbits movement as they jolted away from the pain. Baring their teeth they threw a bolt at the Splicer, unavoidable at its close proximity and as it jolted and seized on the spot, Rabbit shot their skull.

Blood splattered against Rabbit from the close proximity, making them sigh a little silently at having both mask and clothes covered in blood.

Again.

Ignoring the blood that dripped down their chin, they decided that they definitely needed to find more medical supplies if what the Splicer said was true. With Andrew gone, only one person held a monopoly on any remnants ADAM production and retrieval, and Rabbit be damned if they died before that son of a bitch. Even if Atlas didn’t truly hold any extra ADAM, the sheer promise would be enough to convince Splicers depending on the price.

Climbing a tree by the wall, they climbed up to the rafters and retreated into the vent system to avoid running into a lot of Splicers on their exploration.

And after an hour of searching, all they’d manage to scrounge up was a packet of bandaids and a busted tube of disinfectant, which probably wasn’t very disinfectant anymore. It probably even risked infection itself.

Rabbit wrinkled their nose as they tossed it to the wayside, pocketing the bandaids since it was better than nothing, and climbed back into the vents as they heard a Splicer talk to themselves out in the hallway. They were disappointed with their meager haul, but it’d only been an hour, and after a year and a half most supplies left around had either been used or destroyed. But they tried not to be too discouraged, after all it wasn’t like they had any appointments to get to.

Aside from the usual rambling of Splicers below, they heard a scuffle down ahead, curiously peeking through the grate below them. It was a fight between a Splicer and a Big Daddy, and as they watched from above the Big Daddy charged its drill before impaling the aggressor, showering itself and its Little Sister in viscera and blood.

While the sight would usually make a newcomer shudder in fear or become squeamish, Rabbit felt it was par for the course since everyone down here knew that a Big Daddy will protect its charge against any threat.

As they started crawling through the vent again, they heard something along the outside, unable to do much as a hook punched itself through the bottom of the vent behind them. They quickly rolled and took their rifle off their back to aim by their feet, expecting a continued barrage of slashes to the vent. Instead, a hand reached through and snatched their ankle, pulling them out.

Hesitant to shoot off their own foot, Rabbit instead tried to stop their assailants progress, but because of the slippery metal there was nothing they could do.

They fell to the ground painfully, gasping as the wind was knocked from them by the fall, looking up as the Spider that pulled them from the vent looked down at them before falling with its hooks ready to lash at Rabbit. They forced themself to roll away as the hooks came down, digging into the metal flooring. And while the Splicer was distracted trying to pull their weapons from the ground, Rabbit pulled their pistol out and shooting it in the head.

Panting from the sudden attack, they got to their feet, wincing at the strain from the areas that had hit the ground hardest, namely their shoulder and ribcage. They went to go pick up their rifle, but saw the barrel was bent, distorted from the rough crash into the ground.

“Ay, I heard the crash from over here!”

Rabbit’s gaze snapped up as a Splicer rounded the corner, the hall they were pulled into empty aside from the papers and bloodstains scattered on the ground. Seeing it spot them and run towards them, they whirled around and ran, controlling their breathing as they started to try and lose them.

“Oi, there goes the rodent!” The sound of multiple shouts and footsteps behind them showed that the Splicers were gathering together, whether to get after them or Syrus it was sort of unclear since they didn’t know whether Atlas had a bounty on the Newcomers head as well.

Turning the corner and jumping over an overturned desk, it was obvious the clamor was attracting even more attention from unsavory characters, seeing Splicers stop what they were doing and staring at Rabbit while they ran by before joining the chase. They needed to lose the slowly growing mass of Splicers behind them, but if they stopped the Splicers ahead would be drawn in and block their path.

Something jumped from the side and knocked Rabbit to the ground, a burst of electricity lacing their body and making the Splicer seize up and let go. It wasn’t as strong as before and if they continued fighting the impulses would just get weaker until they’d be too exhausted to electrocute in defense.

With their pistol, they shot the paralyzed Splicer before turning their attention to the group of Splicers that had caught up in the conflict.

Each had a varied weapon, and there were so many it made Rabbit’s head swim to try and prioritize them over each other. Unable to see how many had guns, they hesitated before sending out the largest bolt they could muster into the crowd, watching veins and tendrils spread within the group as the electricity passed from Splicer to Splicer in a small area. It wasn’t much, but with the amount advancing on Rabbit it was better than nothing.

Rabbit backed away as quick as they could, training their gun on the crowd, flinching when someone else’s gun rang out and missed them. It was probably the only advantage to having addicts, with how shaky they get they were better at close combat than aiming.

They fired off a few shots as Splicers attacked, dodging and rolling, seeing a Splicer go down while another gripped their leg and collapsed. It wasn’t long before they ran out of ammo, but they had been able to thin the crowd somewhat, counting maybe fourteen or so Splicers left. The ones with guns were mostly disabled and Rabbit picked up a wrench to fight back with now that they were mostly defenseless.

They blocked a rolling pin to the face and responded in kind, gasping when a Spider lashed out at their leg, cutting fabric and flesh. Thanks to the adrenaline, they didn’t fall to the ground or feel it much more than the initial strike, but it was too dangerous being in such a crowded hallway with this number of people, turning to either hide or find a more open space.

Rabbit rushed into a lit room, walls of glass and a second floor. There was no way from here up to the second floor but it certainly gave Rabbit more room to maneuver.

As they surveyed their surroundings, they noticed a Little Sister and Big Daddy, maybe even the same from before. It was their Hail Mary and they ran over, electricity stopping as their hand turned spotty and produced a green gobule. All energy for their Plasmids was depleted and they would have no way to use their electricity until they rested significantly, only hoping the Big Daddy would be able to help Rabbit at least deter the rest of the Splicers.

The Big Daddy registered them as they got closer, but did nothing, giving a passing ‘glance’ while they focused on their charge.

“What do you think Bubba? We haven’t seen many Angels today,” the Sister commented, stabbing a corpse in front of her on the ground, unaware of Rabbit’s approach as they were focused on their task and fabricated world.

Rabbit chucked the gobule at the Big Daddy’s head, the orb bursting on impact and the monster moaned and shook its head as though to clear the hypnotism. It was no use as green light filtered through the yellow, now allianced with them as it turned to give them its full attention. The sound of Splicers entering the room was obvious by a “Aye! Over there!”, and Rabbit moved quickly. They scooped up the distracted child and ran further into the room where they could see a Sister hidey hole in the corner.

The Big Daddy moved to follow, steps slow and lumbering, and Rabbit wished they were faster as Splicers ignored the Big Daddy in favor of Rabbit.

“Ey, Rabbit’s got a Sister! Oooh, I can already taste the ADAM!”

Rabbit silently cried out as something hit their back, painfully cutting against their ribs and they heard the clang of metal as whatever it was fell against the ground. They were kind of grateful since it angered the Big Daddy into finally taking action, roaring in anger behind them. And as they continued running, they could hear the stomps and screams behind them.

Finally, they made it to the hidey hole, carefully helping the child into the special tunnel.

“Thank you Ms. Bunny!” the Little Sister smiled and gave them a wave, adding, “Take care of Bubba for me! He doesn’t know much still.”

Rabbit nodded, trying for a reassuring smile to the child, and gasped when a Splicer decked them in the face. They were able to stay upright and swung at the Splicer that attacked, unarmed and presumably the one that had thrown the object at them. The Splicer dodged at first, but Rabbit hooked their ankle around the Splicers and knocked them to the ground, bashing their skull in with the wrench.

About half of the Splicers were distracted with the Big Daddy, shouting insults at it, but the rest had stayed on Rabbit. Which left Rabbit with six and the Big Daddy had what looked like eight around it.

Everything was a blur and if Rabbit could speak, they weren’t even sure they’d be able to recount everything properly, only aware that they dodged and blocked as much as they could with their lack of energy. If it weren’t for the adrenaline, they would have stopped a while ago. They blocked a rolling pin, a gash was made on their arm at some point, their own wrench was pried from their grip and used to hit them in the face, and as they tried to continue blocking the Splicers they tried to send out a impulse but the most was a small spark against their skin.

As they blocked their face with their forearms to keep from having their skull bashed in, they pushed the Splicers arm to the side and pulled their weapon out of their grip, swinging wildly and felt the object hit something solid. They continued to hit what it was until they were pried off by another Splicer, turning on them and using their combat momentum to knock them down.

While they swung down with what turned out to be a pipe, they saw the Big Daddy fall from the corner of their eye, two Splicers kicking and beating the lit glass face until it cracked and they reached the deformed face of the Big Daddy underneath. Realizing that the Splicers they had been fighting were scattered around them with various blunt fatal wounds, they went to stop the Splicers even though the Big Daddy was already dead. They were able to catch the first one off guard, knocking them down, and focused on the second.

Rabbit dodged the kitchen knife that came towards their face, able to disarm them with a swing with the pipe and slammed the metal into the side of the Splicers face, watching their jaw break and shatter under the force.

It took Rabbit a second to realize it was quiet again, panting from exertion from the fight and their heartrate slowly calmed. With it, their adrenaline began to fade as well and they started absentmindedly checking over their wounds to see how bad they were off, pain slowly spreading through their body. It was difficult when they were absolutely soaked with blood, both theirs and others, gore and bone stuck to their clothing, shaking it off as much as they could.

A rustling behind them drew their attention, and the Splicer they had knocked out and thought to have killed stood up, shaking their head in slight disorientation before seeing Rabbit.

“It’s gonna take more than that for me Rabbit.”

Rabbit narrowed their eyes and turned to attack them in retaliation for the statement, anger fueling their actions as opposed to instinct from before. But the glint of a gun in the Splicers hand made them hesitate momentarily before lunging forward. And as the shot rang out in the room, Rabbit put all their rage behind their swing and once more shattered skull, the shards of the Splicers mask sinking in their caved in face.

The small burst of remnant adrenaline barely lasted a second, Rabbit instinctively holding a hand against their side as the most painful injury was now the shot through their side, fresh blood seeping through their fingers. They blinked against their own blurry vision and pressed against the wound as much as they could.

But they collapsed.

\-----

Syrus had heard a massive commotion echoing through the corridors, but it was still difficult to find his way through the maze of halls and buildings with debris that could be blocking every direction. He was tempted to ignore it, but the only other actual people he knew could be in the mix of it. And whether it was Atlas or Rabbit, he felt it was probably better to keep who it was alive to help him get out of here.

After minutes of winding through halls, it finally sounded like he was getting closer and he was surprised that it was still going on.

A roar echoed through the halls and his instinct came up to the surface, resisting the urge to change in the cramped hallways to roar in response. And soon he found a trail of carnage that lined the halls, a grouping of bodies scattered in one area while a trail of blood led further on.

He sniffed the air to try and find out where it led, but the air was so saturated with iron that it was almost impossible for the time being, instead relying on the sporadic blood splatters on the floor, running to follow both commotion and trail. Aside from the groups of bodies in the middle of the hall, he didn't see much else, his need for iron tempting him to drink from the cold bodies even though he was full from finding a distracted Splicer cooing at an empty crib.

Syrus saw the entrance to what he assumed was the room to the entire commotion and darted forward, the commotion having gone quiet for a minute or so and he hoped the human was alive inside.

And then the shot rang out.

His eyes widened at the loud noise, the gunshot louder than the others mostly due to the silence that surrounded it, frowning in concern and curiosity as he went inside. And the absolute massacre in front of him was enough to make him halt, bodies littering the room, some old but the rest very obviously fresh with glistening blood on their corpses. Almost all had a devastating blow to the head or ribs, but some were a lot more destroyed than others, faces and ribcages mashed almost to a pulp with shards of bone poking up from the gore.

He almost didn’t recognize one of the bodies as he walked through the carnage, white shirt and mask soaked with dark blood, eyes widening at the blank rabbit mask. He’d seen multiple at this point, but usually covered only eyes, and had a different shape than the one he’d seen on his first day.

“Rabbit,” he asked, carefully walking over, the scent of fresh blood so permeating that he wouldn’t be surprised if they were dead as well, form entirely still and skin pale underneath the blood coating them.

Syrus knelt beside them and held a hand in front of their mouth, a sort of relief filling him as he felt their breaths. They were faint and shallow, but it was better than them being dead. Looking them over, it was almost impossible to tell where the wounds were and if all the blood on them was from themselves or the Splicers that scattered the ground.

What he knew was that they needed immediate medical attention, carefully moving his arms beneath their head and knees to move them, but a silent open of the mouth showed that even though they were passed out they were still in pain. Curious and worried, he intently searched their form, finding that there was a hole in their ribs. Realizing that it needed immediate pressure, he gathered a shirt from one of the Splicers, tearing it into strips before making a makeshift bandage around Rabbit’s chest.

It wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing, though now he was incredibly worried as their breathing was slowly getting more shallow, most likely due to the continued blood loss.

Biting his lip, he was hesitant to follow through with his idea, knowing that carrying them around in his arms jostled them too much and that there was a very real threat of being ambushed once more. Sighing, he decided that it was for the better of the human and murmured a “Sorry Rabbit” before he painfully shifted into his larger form. It always hurt, bone structure and body reshaping too rapid for his taste, but it was always better once the process was completed.

He lowered his snout to the human, sniffing them carefully to check their vitals, able to sense it better in his feral form than when he was restrained in his human one. Deciding that it’d probably be better to go slow and keep from moving their abdomen too much, he moved to Rabbits feet, tongue slipping out from behind ribs and jaws.

Syrus slowly coiled his tongue around their legs, crouched down in patience as the long muscle carefully held their legs together while wrapping around them up to their waist. He could have extended his tongue further, but figured it would be better to start easing them into his jaws than trying to wrap the muscle around them entirely.

He grimaced at the nasty taste of Splicer blood that coated his tongue and delicately held the human in place while he moved his mouth forward, gathering their shoes and calves into his maw. Feeling the tips of the shoes reach his throat, he gently swallowed, careful to not pull them in but rather allow him to slowly move him jaws over their form. And as he continued the process over minutes of concentration and careful movements, he realized that not all of the blood was horrid, tongue naturally lapping at the more natural tasting spots of blood.

With worry, he was able to discern that it seemed to be Rabbits, dripping from wounds everywhere. Especially from their abdomen and leg.

Reaching Rabbits head, he was torn between swallowing with the mask on their face or whether to slip it off, unsure of how sentimental it was and decided to slip it off using the prongs of his tongue to grab the intact ear and pull it off.

Finally, Syrus had gathered their entirety in his maw and gullet, gently swallowing rhythmically to move them to his crop where he hoped they wouldn’t be too cramped and would stay stable while he tried to find the Medical wing. Closing his jaws, he gave one last small swallow to seal them away from the carnage outside, bending down his head and picked up the mask in his teeth as he trotted off to help them.


	3. Cots and Exposition

The cold surface beneath them caught their attention, shuddering at it as the air wasn’t much better. They tried to go back to the dark warmth of their dreamless sleep, but once they brought their attention to the chill it was almost impossible to ignore, slowly becoming more of a problem to their consciousness. They exhaled a little tiredly, feeling drained and exhausted as they reluctantly blinked awake, despite just waking up.

Rabbit’s mind was in a haze and it was difficult to comprehend their surroundings, the first thing noticed was how much pain they were in, aching and sore all across their body while a few spots stung horribly. Next was the laminate floor beneath their bed that was cracked and yellowed, white long ago. The light was too bright and they frowned, pushing themselves up to look around, wincing as the pain ran up their entire body from multiple points. And as their eyes landed on the sterile walls and rusted equipment, and registered the scent of chemicals their eyes widened and their breathing quickly became shallow.

“Rabbit, you alright?”

They jolted as they were torn from their fearful shock, and grabbed the nearest thing to them, a busted clipboard, chucking it towards the voice.

“Hey!”

They didn’t even bother waiting to see if it hit, scrambling to their feet and immediately a fuzzy feeling filled their skull, struggling to keep from falling over while their visioned doubled and blurred. The light hurt their eyes with the dizziness and they tried to blink spots from their vision, stepping back as they saw whoever was in the room with them approach but unable to pinpoint them exactly.

Their thoughts raced, thinking of an operating table, a scalpel, and a paralytic that had kept them from fighting but let them feel every ounce of pain.

And they remembered the Doctor’s face.

Rabbit squirmed when the person easily intercepted them, holding their wrists to keep from lashing out and they retaliated by their body creating as big of an electrical shock as possible, even as it hurt themselves in the process. The person let out a pained noise and let go, and the persons shape didn’t try to get closer again. Rabbit found the wall and tried to clear away the fog in their head, registering that the person was trying to talk to them in their frenzied state.

“-ou hear me?... Everything is fine, okay? I'm not going to hurt you-.”

As Rabbit slowly regained control of their senses, they realized the voice was not that of the Doctor's and that he would have had no qualms about continuing to restrain them, shuddering at the thought of cuffs again. Blinking a bit, they realized it had been Syrus that was talking to them, unsure whether to be relieved or not. But this wasn't at all near where Rabbit remembered being before they passed out, trying to think past the haze in their head and getting nothing other than getting shot and passing out.

They straightened and held a hand up in acknowledgement of his words, also signaling that they weren't going to attack again. Or at least that's what went on in their head. They took stock of their surroundings, seeing the disheveled look that they'd associated with Raptures rooms in general, more papers and some medical supplies scattered.

The light that had been glaringly bright when they woke up was dimmer without the threat of passing out again, surprisingly intact yet a little dim. There was the bed they woke up on, stained with either their blood or a previous patient's, a shelf and a desk along one of the walls, drawers open and revealing broken and miscellaneous items. Atop the desk was their blood-stained shirt and mask, accompanied by gauze, some medical tools, and surgical thread.

A glance over themselves now that they weren't having a total panic attack, they noticed gauze wrapped around their abdomen where the bullet had hit and on other spots of injury that even they hadn't noticed at the end of their fight. Already they felt exhausted, probably due to the blood loss and short struggle. They wouldn't be surprised if they'd aggravated the wounds too, but the thickness of the gauze made it hard to tell.

They still had to leave the Medical Pavilion though, majority of their logic overridden by their need to leave the broken and sterile environment. Seeing one of the doors out of the room, they took a step towards it, only for the dizziness to come back.

A hand against their chest stopped them from face-planting as their knees buckled beneath them. They were tempted to bare their teeth and try to push away, but already they were tired, reluctantly allowing Syrus to help them back to their feet but scowled in irritation at requiring help.

“Rabbit, you need to stop moving-” he maneuvered them back to the patient bed where they had woken up on, Rabbit tensing and froze for a second at seeing it. “-when I found you, you had lost a lot of blood.”

Letting themselves get led to the bed, they didn't hop on to sit atop the rough mattress, instead looking around for something to help them communicate with the… whatever he was. They gestured towards one of the scattered papers, relieved when he quickly understood and gathered a busted pen and paper, handing it off to them so they could write.

‘We need to leave’

“Why,” Syrus asked, glancing between the paper and them, the question enough to make Rabbit bare their teeth. The longer they stayed, the more they felt overwhelmed, both by their lack of blood and being in the medical section.

‘Too dangerous’. Already they hated having to converse in such an ineffective way, the time taken to write what they wanted to say was annoying to say the least and it didn’t help that he was inquisitive and persistent to say the least.

\-----

Syrus was confused by Rabbits obvious fear of the the place. Granted, he knew that some humans had fear of hospitals and doctors, something he didn’t really understand since they were literally tasked with keeping other humans safe, and there were Splicers around, but he’d dispatched of any nearby and blockaded the surrounding rooms to both stop intrusion and allow Rabbit some wandering room.

Aside from the possibility of Tetanus from the rusted equipment laying around and the strikes they’d taken before, he personally saw no immediate danger with their current location, especially since he’d been able to find medical supplies for the human.

“I assure you, nothing will be able to get in,” he tried to soothe them, the occasional blue glow thrumming beneath their skin on their wrists and their overall demeanor was more than enough to let him know they were extremely on edge. However, the answer seemed to have an opposite effect, the pen in Rabbit’s hand snapping under their grasp and electricity lashed out, destroying the paper they had.

Startled, it took him a second to register that they were trying to leave again, shaking and grimacing from either fear, pain, or exertion. He quickly moved to block their path, easily able to do so with longer strides and far better health. He didn't restrain them, just prevented them from going further. They narrowed their eyes in response, but before they could do anything, he interrupted.

“Look, I don’t know what you’ve been through or how long you’ve been here, So I get that you don’t trust me.” He saw them relax slightly in curiosity, but they still looked angry beneath the questioning stare. “I don’t really trust you either, but if I wanted you dead I would have left you to bleed out or killed you while you were unconscious. You know more than me that those things out there would not hesitate to end you, and in your weakened state they’d barely have to look in your direction.”

As their eyes stared at his, he could feel their frustration practically radiating off of them, but easily held his ground. Even if they did try to move past him he’d have no trouble stopping them.

Finally, after a small staring contest, they sighed. They glared at him as they walked back to the bed and hopped on top of it. Syrus felt a small rush of relief. He didn’t want to have to paralyze them to keep them from hurting themselves, but he certainly wasn’t going to hesitate if they pushed their luck. He nodded in approval, grabbing another paper and a half broken pencil from the ground, handing them to Rabbit in case they wanted or needed something.

“Until you can walk without shaking, it’s better for you to just rest. Maybe some sleep, yeah?”

They stared at him for a second, unnerving him, before writing something down. “No, I’m good. Can I have my shirt back?”

“It’s covered in blood,” he stated bluntly, feeling it was obvious since it wasn’t even white at this point, the desk beneath it stained. Tears were all over it from the fight and he’d cut it to get to the bullet wound. It was unserviceable to say the least, and unrecognizable as a shirt at worst.

“Do you have something else?”

Syrus shrugged, starting to take off his sweater to hand it to the human but stopped when they quickly gestured for him to stop, face a little red as they looked away and scribbled, 'I meant a blanket or something, jesus christ'

“I didn’t find any in this room, but I can check the others,” he said, resettling his sweater and beginning to leave. As he walked by Rabbit, they stopped him by tugging his sleeve and holding the paper which read, “If you find any syringes bring them back”.

“I’m not supporting a humans drug addiction.”

They gave him an appalled look like he had just insulted them, writing something else before showing him the page reading “In case it's medicine”. Ah, that made more sense but he'd met some back alley humans that would do anything for certain fixes.

“Alright, fine,” he said, sighing a little as he left the room. “I'll be back.”

He searched through the rooms he hadn't blocked, rummaging through drawers and cabinets. He hadn't seen any blankets, but he had been more focused on finding medical equipment that wasn't so rusted it snapped in his hands or risked too much infection. As he pulled a blanket from the top shelf in a closet, he mused that Rabbit probably wouldn't appreciate the messy handiwork on their wounds, but he wasn't a doctor and he doubted there was one around here.

Checking that the blanket wasn't covered in mites or something else equally disgusting, he bundled it under an arm as he checked the last few drawers. Startled, he blinked at seeing a syringe filled with glowing blood red fluid. Curiosity filled him, but an instinct told him to leave it, that it wasn't safe. He closed the drawer and walked back to where Rabbit was.

Only to find them asleep.

Their mask was on, telling him that they'd gotten up to get it, but at least they didn't try to put on the tattered shirt or find a way out. Their position suggested that sleep hadn't been something they planned, legs still over the side of the medical bed with pen and paper loosely held in their hands.

Syrus tilted his head at the sight. After almost a week of being down here, having a human not straight up try to kill him was a pleasant break, even if they'd tried to kill him at first sight. His Bloodlust urged him to indulge in their blood, remembering the not so chemically saturated flavor compared to the others whose blood may as well taste like motor oil. But he pushed the thought aside. He had drank his fill after securing them safely from the mass of corpses from their fight before.

He unbundled the blanket and draped it over them, straightening their legs so that they wouldn't wake up with their spine sore from being twisted so oddly, and yawned. He didn't need as much sleep as a human, but he hadn't slept since on the plane that crashed here. He listened quietly for a minute or so, deciding it was safe for now since all he could hear was the creaks of metal and Rabbit's own breathing. He tried to calculate how much time he could bank on Rabbit being asleep, figuring it'd be a while so their body could recuperate, but there was no way to tell time down here.

With a sigh, he decided he might as well sleep while they did, sure that he'd be woken up if they tried to leave since the doors were blocked. Sitting in the chair at the desk, he rested his head on his arms, letting himself drift off.

\-----

Rabbit hadn't meant to fall asleep, surprised when they woke up from a sleep they didn't even remember happening. They remembered watching Syrus leave and then getting up quietly to snatch their mask from the desk. They were warmer than when they last woke up, though still not as much as they would have preferred, reminiscing about actual heating for a second considering the temperatures down here didn't go higher than 60 degrees Fahrenheit. But, the anxiety they had about the Medical Pavilion crept in again, spurring them from the bed.

They froze at seeing Syrus at the desk, head resting on his arms. After waiting for a reaction for a second, they carefully moved closer, noticing that he was asleep. It was an odd sight since they hadn't seen him sleep once since he'd gotten here.

Curious, they frowned at him, glancing him over while their head tilted automatically. From what they could see, he seemed human in appearance, just like before. But just knowing that his tongue was longer than a humans and that he easily kills Splicers made Rabbit wonder what he was or what happened to him to make him that way.

Eventually, they shook their mind clear of those thoughts and decided to explore the area given, which spanned about three rooms including the one they had been in. They had to stay close to the walls mostly to not fall over from their shaking limbs, occasionally stopping entirely to catch their breath.

They didn't find anything of interest, seeing the doors blocked by filing cabinets and most everything had already been searched over. They also took note of the vents, determined to sneak off as soon as they were well enough to walk without shaking. And with only one more drawer to check, they rolled it open, eyes widening at the glowing syringe inside. As if of its own accord, their hand reached inside and grabbed the thick glass container, careful of the plunger and needlepoint.

The label on the side was rubbed off so it was mostly just a discolored white sticker, telling nothing of its contents. But they knew what was inside, generally at least: another Plasmid. Specially crafted ADAM who's purpose was to genetically modify the user to their ‘liking’, but abuse had its tolls as evidenced by the deformed Splicers that wandered the halls.

It wasn't a lot of pure ADAM, but it'd be enough to heal them for the most part. They bit their lip in debate with themself.

They were tired. There was no way out except for death down here. They'd staved it off as long as they could, but when that Splicer held the gun to their chest and they registered the shot, they also accepted it. No. THEY CRAVED IT. They wanted everything to end and for a second, they thought they had a way out.

But then Syrus came along and helped them, a position they were not pleased with. They hated being in debt to others, and having your life saved is the biggest one of all.

They knew there were morphine bags somewhere in the Medical Pavilion, but they couldn't leave in their shaky state, and if they injected themself there'd be no point in getting them other than a high.

'Damn, Syrus really had made sure I was safe while I was stuck in here with no way to harm myself even if I wanted, though I doubted he'd even expect these thoughts.'

With a sigh, they resigned to the fact that there was nothing to do but recover, preferring to at least speed it up with the syringe in their hand.

They embedded the needle into the meat of their forearm, wincing at the sharp pain before pushing the plunger. It wasn't pure ADAM or EVE, but the specialized ADAM still left a burning sensation as it entered their veins. There was a moment of pain, the same pain that was usually the worst when you used a Plasmid for the first time, of DNA shutting down as it was rearranged. They'd be unable to use their electricity or hypnotism until their body processed the new genetic structure and flushed out any possible leftover mutagens.

But they didn't care.

They felt their injuries healing, a slight sting as flesh was forcibly healed together by the substance, using a lot of Rabbit's energy reserves. But the bliss that came with the ADAM was overwhelming, making them haze in and out as it flowed, diminishing fatigue and hunger. It made them feel safe, warm, and POWERFUL. It made them feel invincible, as though nothing could touch them here, not even the Doctor or HIM.

But then it was gone. They weren't sure how long they'd ridden the high that was given, but without it they felt emptier than before, biting their lip at the painfully void feeling in their chest. Before they could gather any thoughts at the numbness, they heard a shout from behind them.

“Rabbit?!”

They heard Syrus get up and exhaled softly, gathering the energy to stand up and was startled when the syringe was pulled from their grasp. They bared their teeth at the action, mostly because it was rude, but also out of instinct.

“What did you just inject,” he asked, glancing them over and scrutinizing them, making them shift a little on their feet at the terse tone.

Unable to answer and also unwilling to do so, they just gestured to the blocked door, signalling that they wanted out now. They were tired, but now they were fine. They wanted out of the Medical Pavilion IMMEDIATELY, and if he wasn't in the room they would have tried using the vent to climb out. Instead, the male shook his head and tightened his grip on the almost completely empty syringe, only a few drops of fluid on the inside.

“I told you, you're not leaving until you're healed enough,” he reiterated, making Rabbit bristle. “Speaking of, your bandages should probably be changed. Come on.”

He looked at them expectantly, something they hated, but they relaxed a little before walking back. They hoped that if he saw the wounds gone that he would allow them to leave, grabbing the medical scissors from the desk and sat on the bed, starting to cut off the bandages. They saw him follow after, obviously displeased that they took it upon themself to cut the gauze away but it seemed he wouldn't take them away. Probably in case it caused them to injure themselves if they tried to hold onto the sharp object.

The only sound for a few seconds was the sound of fabric being cut into and the light scrape of metal as the scissors opened and closed, starting with their abdomen bandages. They started peeling away the gauze, wincing at the feeling of mostly dried blood sticking to their skin.

They were offered a cleanish cloth, dabbing the blood away as they took it. Aside from the blood around the wound area, where there had probably been a gaping hole beneath their ribs there was still a wound but it was far more healed than it was, the hole almost entirely filled with healed flesh.

“What the hell?”

They couldn't help but give Syrus a cheeky look, grabbing the paper and pencil to write out ‘I told you I was fine.’

They stiffened as he quickly moved closer and closed the distance between them, resisting the urge to try and plunge the scissors into him on instinct when he was within arms reach. He extended a hand toward their side, something that made them jolt, scissors clenched in their hand as instinct urged them to protect their wounds.

“I just want to check it,” he said, not forcing closer but also not backing off, the curiosity in his eyes putting them on edge. But the absence of malice in them, had them biting their lip as they reluctantly forced themself still so he could inspect it.

They shuddered at his touch, surprised at the careful movements but since he was the one to patch them up in the first place they supposed it made sense. Uncomfortable with just letting him look them over, they worked on cutting the other bandages off, each stained by blood to some extent while the wounds were gone. The smaller ones didn't even leave a scar and the bruises had disappeared, the larger the wound the more it had scarred rather than healing fully, largest wound being the bullet wound since it had pierced their side and embedded into their muscle.

“Incredible. How did this happen?”

Taking a moment from trying to clean the blood from themself, they absentmindedly wrote down on the piece of paper about how the syringe had a special sort of ADAM inside, allowing him to read it over while they finished dabbing blood off.

They could do nothing currently about the stains on their clothes, but they figured they'd take care of it in due time, grateful at least that they weren't really in pain anymore, just exhausted from everything and the forced healing. They waited for him to hand the page back so they could ask to leave, trying to ignore the dizziness that snuck up on them momentarily. But rather that just accepting their answer, he handed it back with another question.

“What is this ADAM everyone keeps talking about,” he asked.

Rabbit couldn't help but sigh, the question enough to push their tiredness over the edge, writing, “I'll explain tomorrow.” They handed him the paper and barely gave him a chance to acknowledge it before laying back on the bed and almost immediately going to sleep.


	4. Swallow the Taser

He couldn’t help but stare occasionally at the prone form on the medical bed, eyes glancing over where there should have been open wounds that still needed to heal. The blanket he had draped over them prevented him from actually seeing them, but in his mind’s eye he still saw the near perfect scar tissue that almost left no mark. It left him confused and curious, planning to continue demanding for an explanation.

Whatever they had injected themselves with was the only cause he could think of, something damn near miraculous if not already there.

However, that didn’t stop the small amount of concern he had for the human entirely. They hadn’t eaten anything since he’d found them a few days ago, having spent most of their time either sleeping or testing his patience. He, himself, could last up to a month and a half without food or blood if left alone. It was just a matter of keeping his Bloodlust in check that brought up issues, struggling with two or more weeks.

The reason Syrus hadn’t tried to get them something to eat was because he had been very reluctant to leave the sleeping human alone, both because they’d be far more vulnerable without the barricade at the doors and he didn’t doubt that they’d take the opportunity to sneak away if they woke up while he was gone. He wanted answers, and other than the Atlas person on the radio who hasn’t contacted him since they first talked, Rabbit was the only other person to give him coherent answers.

He guessed this wasn’t the first time they’d gone hungry though, having found no actual food aside from already eaten or torn snack bags and bars. With the sight of rib impressions under their skin from an already somewhat malnourished lifestyle, he wondered how they’d made it this long in the underwater city.

He allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts to pass the time, something he’d done each time Rabbit had slept other than letting himself rest as well once. It wasn’t like he had anything to read or see in the small rooms, and he had no reason to write.

Syrus was a little surprised when it was only an hour or so before he heard them shifting on the gurney behind him, pulling from his mind and turning to face them. He watched them push themself up and rub the sleep from their eyes with a hand, barely catching a glimpse of their tired expression underneath. The black eyes of the mask turned towards him and their arm gestured towards the door, not even needing to write what they wanted from him since he had a pretty good guess.

Let me out. NOW.

“No,” he stated, already sensing their mood sour and held a hand up in a placating manner before they could get too angry. “You said you’d answer my questions when you got up.”

They deflated slightly, taking a second before looking for their pen and paper to write, both being handed to them by Syrus. He had placed them on the desk when they had handed the paper to him before passing out.

‘How long was I asleep?’

He frowned a little at the question, wondering why it was relevant and responded, “One, maybe two hours.”

They quickly wrote back, ‘I said I’d explain tomorrow. Two hours does not make a night.’

He could feel their small sense of triumph, able to barely see a slightly smug smile beneath the mask. But he felt he had all the cards in the situation, retorting, “Yes, but I’m almost certain if I unblock the door that you’ll vanish without a trace like before, and I don’t feel like risking it. If you have the energy to walk, you have the energy to talk. Or write, I suppose.”

Syrus expected a lashback, a written sneer, maybe the items in their hands bursting with electricity again. But nothing happened aside from sensing their anger and seeing their hands tighten their grip. After a second or two they gave a small sigh and got up to move to the desk. He got up to silently offer them the seat, but they ignored it as they wrote on the paper given.

‘What questions do you have?’

“What is this place? Why is he here,” he dived right in, deciding to not beat around the bush or waste time.

Another sigh escaped their lips.

‘Look, I don’t know everything about this place, alright? But I’ll do my-’

“You know more than I do.”

He saw them stare at him in irritation, able to feel it in waves from them after interrupting their writing. He gave a small apology before they would continue.

‘This place is called Rapture, as you’ve probably noticed by now. It was made at some point in the 1900s by a guy named Andrew Ryan. I think he didn’t like how things were going on the surface or something. So he contracted a lot of people to build this place, either paying them a lot of money or offering them a place in his supposedly Utopic society. Lot of wealthies wanted to be away from the regular government too, so they helped fund the project as well.’

“What happened?” he asked as they paused for his next question.

‘Some sort of civil war occurred at some point, between the more posh citizens and the ones stuck in poverty. The wealthy were headed by Ryan himself as he tried to keep the peace and the rebels led by someone called Frank Fountaine,’ they paused their writing, something that confused Syrus until he noticed their hands were shaking, unable to tell what emotion was running through their body. They took a shaky breath before too long and continued, Syrus intrigued by the sudden change in behaviour, ‘Because of this, the city collapsed into chaos and disarray, not helped by the Splicers that were around by that point. Eventually Ryan was killed and Fountaine guards the only other exit I know out of Rapture.’

They looked up at him with a small tilt to their head, the light glancing off of the left side of their face and neck, seeing the faint lines that he’d thought he’d seen in their first fight and had studied while he patched them up. They waited for his next question and he resisted the urge to ask about the scars, mulling over the new information instead, eventually urging, “What are Splicers?”

Their head tilted a little further as though confused, the response small this time with simply, ‘Those are the things that keep jumping you and I. They think you have ADAM and they know I do.’

There it was again, that mention of ADAM.

“Okay, what is this ADAM and why does everything down here revolve around it,” he couldn’t help but have irritation lace his voice as he demanded his next question, finding it the most infuriating one of all so far. He watched them angrily as they flipped the paper over, the other side full of their corrections and words.

‘ADAM is the lifeblood of Rapture, rare as it is now. It’s a substance made by rare sea slugs with phenomenal properties, able to sure cancer and regrow flesh and bone. So when it was discovered, Ryan looked into making as much as he could for a profit. It’s ironic because it’s almost a cancer itself, the subjects cells turning into unstable STEM ones as their DNA is changed itself. You need more for stability, but the more you have the more unstable you become, both mentally and physically. People started becoming mutated and deformed as a price for their grasp on a cure-all, but they didn’t care.’

They paused, twirling their wrist slowly to give it a small break, Syrus resisting the urge to snap at them to finish their explanation.

‘Because of its addictive quality, it gave them a rush of escapism in the chaos until they all became chaos themselves. ADAM was in high demand of course, but the slugs in their more natural environment didn’t make enough.’ Their handwriting became more erratic, but they didn’t stop like last time. ‘The solution they came up with was to put the slugs in the stomachs of children. You’ve seen them, the Little Sisters with their Big Daddies, stolen from the Surface. Big Daddies were escorts to protect them when they went out. ADAM was harvested from them, but even that wasn’t enough, so the Sisters were sent out to collect ADAM from corpses. People and Splicers alike would attack them, hence the need for Big Daddies. But it still wasn’t enough, people tearing each other apart for their fix, some even resorting to cannibalism when they didn’t have the proper tools to extract. And for food. With the city in disarray, no one able to get supplies from the surface or acquire much food. The Splicers around here now are just the ones that have managed to make it this long.’

They looked up at him expectantly, waiting for his next question. He was startled, by what he heard and the fact that they knew so much despite saying they didn’t.

“I thought you said you didn’t know much,” he said, suspicious and kept it to himself. He handed them another paper as they gestured for a ‘fresh’ one.

‘I guess I forgot how much I knew.’

Syrus wasn’t very satisfied with their response, but decided not to press right now. If he did, they might not answer anything else. “And your… powers, for lack of a better word? Your electricity?”

‘A Plasmid, subcategory of ADAM. Concentrated and specialized to mutate the DNA to unnatural extents, allowing certain abilities such as pyro and cryokinesis, and obviously electricity.’

Syrus hummed a little in thought, asking, “You said this place was made some time in the 1900s. Are the Splicers down here the originals or have they procreated in some way?”

‘Originals as far as I’m aware. I doubt any of them think of sex past their ADAM obsession, maybe fucked a corpse if anything since I think even a Splicer can be dangerous to a Splicer.’ Syrus felt a burst of revulsion at the thought while Rabbit continued writing undeterred. ‘ADAM changes your DNA, so the passage of time is different for them. If it can cure malicious cancer and regrow limbs, I wouldn’t doubt if it severely lengthens their lifespan for who knows how long.’

He frowned a little as he looked at Rabbit. They seemed younger than most of the Splicers he’d seen and wasn’t ADAM crazed like them, so he wondered if they had been stolen from above or crashed like he had. Or maybe even another option he didn’t know about.

“How long have you been here?”

They physically jolted, surprising him by how taken aback by the question they were, head turning slightly as he assumed they were looking at him from the corner of their eye. Their movement was hesitant as they wrote down, ‘Long enough to know how it works down here. And now you do too.’

Syrus was less than pleased with the response, but he felt like he wouldn’t get much else from them if it was about themselves and he couldn’t just force them to write. He decided his basic questions were out of the way for now, saying, “Well, I appreciate you answering the questions. I’ll unblock the door now.”

As he moved away though, his sleeve was grabbed, catching his attention as he glanced at Rabbit in confusion. Before they had been demanding to be released. They tapped the paper and he saw the statement there, enough to almost make him groan.

‘Quid pro quo.’

\-----

Rabbit felt a little ballsy considering they had no way to defend themselves if their actions made him mad, having seen him down at least a dozen Splicers by now. But now that he’d gotten his answers, they wanted theirs. Their grip on his sleeve was firm and steady, different from their own internal structure currently.

Their craving for ADAM was difficult to control, but the distraction would help them settle it for the time being. At least enough to suppress it for them to walk out that door. And whatever Plasmid they had injected was still in their system without the high, so there was a slight discomfort in simply existing right now, what felt like a headache brewing as well in their temples. It had made answering the questions a little rough, but if they were receiving answers they could store them away if it hurt to process and think over them later.

“Fine,” they relaxed a little as he relented, turning himself towards them and ignored the height difference between them. “What were your questions?”

That was easy.

There was only one glaring question that they’d been dying to ask since they’d fought him in the first place, writing it down in slight giddiness for hopefully finally getting an answer. They lifted the page for him to see now that he wasn’t watching over their shoulder, the question seemingly very simple, ‘What ARE you?’

Syrus glanced the question over before narrowing his eyes at them, a small shudder threatening to run through them at the golden irises.

“You refused to tell me anything about yourself, why should I do what you didn’t?”

They had expected a similar response, ready for an answer and somewhat smugly answering, ‘Because I practically gave you an entire history session on Rapture. You owe me.’

He sighed and they smiled beneath the mask as he seemed to give in.

“Alright, fine. I’m what you humans call a Chupacabra,” Syrus said, Rabbit a little surprised that he didn’t beat around the bush at all. “We’re rare, but we do exist, though not as humans tend to think we do. We are most certainly not those horrid scaly monkey looking creatures. Those don’t even exist and I have no idea how someone could misconstrue our physicalities so much. We require blood to function because we have a high metabolism for iron, meaning we need a lot more of it that eating regular food doesn’t suffice. So, ‘blood-sucking’ is the most effective way to get it.”

Without their mask, they would have been seen staring at him with wariness. But they were also fascinated and curious, so they pressed with their questioning, albeit taking a slightly different direction in asking. For some reason they felt it would be weird to write it on paper, so they pointed towards him before opening their mouth slightly and pointing to it for a second or two before closing it.

They were glad that he seemed to get the message, but he seemed uncomfortable with it. They supposed they could understand since they also didn’t like being the center of curiosity. However, they really wanted a closer look in a ‘safe’ environment where he seemed complacent for the time being.

“Fine, but after that, no more questions,” he eventually replied, shifting a little on his feet, “So, it’s either more questions or your little study.”

Rabbit got the most pressing question out of the way and was entirely content with the ultimatum, gesturing once more to their mouth. They watched him sigh and hesitate before opening his mouth enough to reveal the inside. They couldn’t see much, so they gestured for him to open up a little more, watching him reluctantly comply.

Because of the height difference it was difficult to see and they felt a little bad for being a nuisance and making him do all this, but he had already said that he’d allow them a closer look, so they gently grabbed his sleeve to lead him over to the gurney to sit and allow a little less distance. They were surprised that he complied with it, closing his mouth as they moved and then reopening once he had seated, now only a few inches taller rather than a foot once the bed was adjusted as much as it could go.

Rabbit had never really looked in anyone’s mouth, not understanding how dentists could do so all the time, but the fact that he wasn’t human and had obvious abnormalities in comparison made them curious how different he was since he looked human.

The first thing they noticed was that his teeth looked surprisingly normal at first glance, probably why no one gave him or his kind a second glance when they could be among the population at any given point. But even a second longer showed some differentiations. The canines were longer and sharper, a smaller set of sub-canines both in front of and behind the real ones on the bottom and top of the jaws. The incisors seemed slightly sharper than a regular persons, but that may have just been Rabbit’s inexperience. A glance at what little they could see of the molars, they were definitely sharper around the edges, though they did look mostly like a humans.

With their investigation of the teeth done, they pulled away from where they had been, about a foot and a half away from his face. They stuck their tongue out and pointed at it, earning a sigh from the Chupacabra.

The tongue, which they had seen had a more pointed structure, slipped from behind his teeth and the length still surprised them despite expecting it. They glanced it over, ignoring their slight revulsion at seeing the saliva coated muscle, and gestured to the end of it after a second or two. The transition from pointed to split was almost seamless, helped by the fact that tongues were mostly just muscle and the saliva distorted where the probable ‘seams’ of the tip were. They were tempted to tap the end of one of the prongs, but they’d seen what happened when someone was stabbed by the odd looking things. They saw where the blood went through, a sort of second throat in the tongue in the middle of the prongs like an off-putting flower.

After about a minute more of looking over Syrus’ mouth, they pulled away and gave them a grateful thumbs up, curiosity satisfied for now. They had more questions about his anatomy, but they could definitely live without finding out, knowing that if he didn’t know they weren’t going to go through the sadistic trouble of trying to mount a dissection.

As their vision hazed for a second, they pushed the thought from their head, realizing Syrus had gotten up in the second lapse of memory. He seemed to reset his tongue after having held it out of his mouth, and Rabbit was not surprised to see that it had probably been an uncomfortable experience.

They felt as though it was a little bit of payback for keeping them cooped for a few days.

Syrus must have said something, Rabbit glad the mask kept him from seeing their un-attentiveness as he sighed a little in disappointment at apparently not getting a reaction from what he said and walked over to the doors. As he started shouldering one of the filing cabinets, they were prepared and pulled one of the desks away when he was out of the way.

They ignored the surprised look from him as they helped pull away the barricade he had made from the office furniture from the few connected rooms. Once they were all either out of the room or situated away from the door, they looked at the door separating them from the hallways.

Hallways that led to the rest of the medical ward.

Rabbit thought that the reason they hadn’t freaked out since the first incident was because Syrus had been there. Someone to distract them from their surroundings and focus on, a reminder that the Doctor wasn’t there even if they were in his territory.

They hadn’t realized they had gotten lost in their thoughts until they heard Syrus’ voice eventually cut through them.

“Rabbit, you okay?”

They jolted, pulling away when they saw him reach out and saw him pause before lowering his hand. Their heart pounded in their chest before they tried to calm it, steeling themself as their nerves gave way to anger for being caught off guard once more by him. Holding onto their irritation and renewed determination, they brushed past him towards the door, no longer hesitating as they firmly pulled the door open, hinges creaking from disuse.

As they saw the hall behind it, they kept up their strong facade of being unbothered any longer by their environment, strolling from the room they had been in into the hallway. Where they were, it was a straight shot forward to a intersection, looking around for danger as they walked forward to the end of the hall.

As they walked, they tried to be both attentive and avoid things that would set them off, something that was incredibly difficult.

The glint of metal from a screw became the glint of a scalpel. A broken strap on the ground was suddenly holding their hand to a bed beneath them. The smell of chemicals diminished over years of being majorly abandoned became suffocating until it was all they could smell. A picture of his face became him, surgical mask over his face and rubber gloves on his hands, slick black surface reflecting white.

And they kept walking, trying to ignore these phantom memories that injected themselves in Rabbit’s mind eye, making their sight on reality a little difficult to comprehend. One second in the surgery room, the next making a left at the end of the hall. One feeling the scalpel bite into their throat, the next taking a shirt from one of the corpses on the ground and putting it on.

The buttons as they settled the shirt gave their hands something to do and grounded them a little, realizing Syrus was following them. The shirt they’d put on was more of an off-grey than white due to having been kept discarded, some rips here and there, but it was doable. They had better shirts back in the Nest anyways once they got back.

Tucking the shirt in their pants, they turned on Syrus, glaring at him beneath the mask as they wanted him to leave them alone. They would have escaped through the vents, but the Doctor had barred them all up after their first escape attempt, able to see the grates welded to the vents themselves to prevent prying them loose. Unable to leave that way, they felt very vulnerable in the open halls, and they didn’t want to be around anyone when they felt vulnerable.

“Look, I have to get out of here too, and I only saw one entrance in,” he said, raising his hands in an attempt to placate them, something they didn’t miss.

As much as they wanted to run him off, shoot an electrical bolt at him or something, they were also glad their powers were suppressed for the sole reason that the extent of their discontent couldn’t be seen. They were sure if they were able, their electricity would be crackling around them from how on edge they were and possibly short-circuit the lights, giving away their position. Reluctantly, they relaxed a little and turned away slightly, putting a finger to their lips to signal Syrus to remain silent.

Together, they walked in silence through the halls, Rabbit trying to focus on his footsteps to keep themselves grounded and from spiraling into their barely restrained terror-filled thoughts. Eventually, they were able to get a hold of themselves, desperately pushing their overwhelming emotions away until they were back to their relatively apathetic state.

This method of locking away their emotions was obviously unhealthy, but it allowed them to look around for danger with more clarity and was the only reason they’d been able to make it this long in Rapture in the first place.

As they navigated the halls, the stench of rot got closer and they saw one of the Doctor’s ‘art pieces’ tied to the wall, having been there for a while. With the distasteful and not very surprised face of Syrus, Rabbit supposed he saw some of them on the way to the back corner of the ward. They wondered what he thought about it, humans apt to cut up their own and proclaim it art.

They slowly relaxed as their mind slowly followed the map in their head, looking forward to leaving the ward area, registering them getting closer to the entrance. Now was only a maze of supply closets, offices, and check up rooms. It would still be a few minutes until they exited, but it was only a few minutes more.

There was no harm, right?

\-----

Syrus had felt uncomfortable under the humans gaze as they glanced over his teeth and tongue as per their agreement, mouth feeling dry by the time they had been satisfied enough to pull away.

He was relieved to get up to start taking the furniture away from the door, finding them easy to move with his different body structure. And Rabbit had surprised him by being able to pull a desk and a few other pieces of furniture away, effectively lessening the amount of time it took to get to the actual door itself.

As he placed the last filing cabinet off to the side, he asked, “Alright, you ready?”

Turning back, he saw Rabbit almost deathly still, staring at the doorway. They had seemingly ignored him before when he’d asked them if he could ask them another question, but now he wondered if they’d been like this at the time too. The sight confused and concerned him slightly, not needing the only other person to be just as insane as everyone else down here.

“Rabbit?” No response, so he asked again, “Rabbit, are you okay?”

This time they jolted, pulling away as their head whipped to stare at him instead. He stopped his advance, feeling as though he was dealing with an animal more than a human as he tried to wait for a response.

And then they were ‘normal’, turning away as though nothing happened and brushing past him to get to the door.

He watched them walk confidently to the door, opening it before stepping out into the hall. He followed behind since he needed to leave as well, having seen no other entrance or exit from the Medical Pavilion, as it was called.

As he walked behind them, he noticed a sort of stiffness in their movements and actions, as though they themselves didn’t know what they were doing. He assumed they were fine with him following, until they picked up a discarded shirt from the floor in front of him and put it on before turning on him with a sort of anger coming off of them.

The shirt itself was too big and baggy, even with being tucked in, and he was able to see their collarbone despite it being buttoned all the way.

“Look, I have to get out of here too, and I only saw one entrance in,” he felt like he shouldn’t have to explain himself, thinking they knew everything a lot more than he did. But he could see they were on edge, eventually walking again and presumably allowing him to follow.

Why didn’t they use their electricity?

When they first met, it had always been there, even if it was just a slight blue in their veins. But now it was gone, had been for the last three days.

He wondered if something had happened to trigger the lack of response.

Syrus noticed after a few minutes that their walking became more natural and genuine, taking note of the odd change and frowned, once more questioning what was going through their head. Because of the mask on their face, he hadn’t been able to take any facial clues whatsoever on the entire walk over. Which was probably why they wore it if he thought on it since their opponent wouldn’t know their thought process as easily.

He was torn from his thoughts as a screeching and crackling echoed in the halls, throwing his hands over his ears and noticing Rabbit do the same until the noise subsided. It was followed by a light tapping and some light noises before a voice sounded over the intercom.

“Hello Katherine.”

As soon as Rabbit begun to straighten, they froze, Syrus startled by the sudden stop in behaviour. He glanced between them and the walls, trying to find the intercom that resounded through the halls.

“Or, should I say Rabbit now,” the voice chuckled a little. “Not a very perfect name if I had to choose. Imagine my surprise when I get a tip from Fountaine himself that my escaped subject had wandered back into my halls. My, my, my, my, my. I can only assume you saw the error of running away and came back to be… perfect.”

The man practically purred and Syrus himself shuddered at the odd way the word was said.

“And, I hear you’ve brought another subject! You must really be wanting to be perfected by yours truly to have even brought an incentive for me to work on you again after you were so ungrateful to have run away again,” the man’s voice got angry by the end, almost blowing out the microphone before he calmed himself. “But, I’m a very forgiving man. You wait right where you are and I’ll find you. Then I can make you perfect.”

The intercom slicked off and Syrus was left flabbergasted before everything set in. He felt an amount of betrayal run through his chest, angrily blurting out, “Was this some sort of trap?!”

But as he looked down, he deflated in shock at seeing Rabbit.

He was used to the stoic silence, the cheeky way they’d look at him, even anger.

But they were crouching on the ground, able to see them shaking violently, more so than when he had woken them up from having been shot. Their arms were half raised as though they were trying to stop themselves from clutching at their head, the shaking far more prominent with the appendages. He could barely hear their breathing, shallow and quick.

Syrus stared in shock at watching their state seem to slowly deteriorate, forced from it as he started to hear footsteps down one of the halls. But with the cursed echo in the ward, he couldn’t tell which one, and as far as he was aware, whoever it was could be right around a corner.

He knelt beside the stiff form of Rabbit, trying to wave his hand in front of their face. With no response, he wondered if the low visibility of the mask would have prevented them from noticing him and carefully pulled the mask off. Concerningly, they didn’t move to stop him or even look at him as he did so, waving a hand in front of their face again.

“R-Rabbit? Rabbit, we have to go,” he tried to get them to look at him by gently moving their face up to look them in the eyes. He noticed they seemed glazed, startled to see a slight glisten to them as though they were holding back tears. “Hey, focus on me, okay? Can you hear me?”

He tried to use a gentler tone than when he had woken them up, not wanting them to panic despite him hearing the footsteps getting loud enough that even a human could hear from here.

After a second or so, their pupils flicked towards his face before frantically looking him, a slow blink crossing their vision. He opened his mouth to ask them if they could hear him, but they nodded, probably in response to his previous attempt.

“Okay, well, we need to get up, now,” he stated firmly, grabbing their arms to help pull them back up to their feet, Rabbit slowly getting up. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I need to get you ou-.”

“Katheriiiine,” a male voice sang through the halls, making him glance up to see if he could spot the human.

Syrus was caught off guard as they dead weighted in his hands, looking down to see that their eyes had glazed over again, practically vibrating in his hold.

“Aphrodite says that she would love to see you again. You’ll even get the same lovely treatment again! Doesn’t that sound nice? Safe from all the aggressive UGLY people here in Rapture so that I can make you perfect.”

He had no idea what the human lunatic was talking about, knowing only that they needed to leave now and that Rabbit had something wrong with them. He knelt back down, this time to pick them up entirely so that he could find try to find the way out without leaving them behind.

“I still have the stencils on the Splicers, lovely designs, really,” Syrus felt Rabbit tense in his hold at the humans proclamation.

“Rabbit, can you hear me?”

They gave no response or acknowledgement, not until the doctor added, “Your cell even has them for you! Something to keep you company and give you a glimpse at your perfection!”

As Syrus moved to pick them up, huddling them to his chest to stand up, they jolted. They tried to pull away, kicking at the tiled floor for traction and not bothering to use the silent soles of their shoes.

“R-Rabbit, stop,” he exclaimed, trying to restrain them as much as he could.

The footsteps paused before they quickly got closer, no longer the sound of walking, but rather running towards their location.

He tried to gather Rabbit up as quickly as possible, made difficult by their struggling now. But he was eventually able to stand properly with them squirming as much as they could, helped by his more supernatural strength and the fact that they weren’t using their electricity. He started to run through the halls, unsure of where to go since his focus when getting here had been to get them safe and had been following them out.

As he rounded a corner, Rabbit landed a swing to his face, crying out in surprise as his grip loosened enough for them to drop to the ground. He blinked spots from his vision as he saw them sprinting away, going who knows where.

“Rabbit?!”

Syrus gave chase, only able to catch up with his longer legs, both running with fervent intent. As he got close enough, he grabbed Rabbit and lifted them kicking from the ground, rushing to the nearest room.

It was an empty office, closing the door as quickly and quietly as he could while restraining them.

“R-Rabbit, calm down, it’s Syrus, okay,” he said, kneeling on their shins to try and keep their legs steady and holding their wrists in one hand. With the other, he tried to direct their gaze and attention to him, noticing barely a flicker of recognition as they slowed their struggling momentarily. “You trust me, right?”

He felt their struggles lessen until they stopped, still enough to see that their tears had fallen, tear tracks now down their face and eyes wide as they regarded him. He hoped and expected them to slowly calm down enough for them to get out.

However, they shook their head vigorously, stunning him as they tried to squirm away again.

Mulling things over, he decided he had one course of action that was the best for both of them, though he doubted they’d see it as such.

With a small sigh, his resolve hardened and he looked them in the face seriously.

\-----

They were overreacting and they knew it. They knew it from their logic, they knew it from any reasoning, and they knew it from the fact that they were still struggling against Syrus.

But they couldn’t help it.

Everything was suffocating, it was overwhelming. They couldn’t even see straight most of the time, barely able to keep Syrus focused as he tried to get them to trust him. But they didn’t trust, not easily, and not anymore.

The only thing looping through their head was flashes from when they were here before, strapped to a gurney in the surgical wing, trapped in a room with no light and hearing other test subjects last screams from down the hall. They wanted out, they wanted away, they wanted SAFE. And their body had gone on autopilot, wanting to run for the nearest vent grate even though their logic also screamed at them that it was useless.

Rabbit was able to focus on Syrus a little more, still unable and unwilling to stop their struggles, hoping in vain to break away, confused and terrified when his face turned serious.

“Okay, so you might not trust me, but I’m still gonna get you out of here,” they searched his gaze for any possibility that he was lying. He seemed genuine, but so had Fountaine. “Just… you’re not gonna like it…”

They definitely didn’t like the sound of that, but in their confusion their struggles had lessened a little, enough for Syrus to get a better restraint on them. They tried to pull away as he leaned closer, eyes widening when his mouth opened and they saw his tongue. Panicking, they started struggling again to try and get away, tensing as it got closer.

They were terrified that he was going to paralyze them like some of the other Splicers they’d seen him stop, still alive but unable to move like the way the Doctor enjoyed operating on his patients. Or maybe he was planning on ending them and that was his definition of getting them out of this underwater hell. Had Rapture already twisted him or was he already planning on killing them from the start?

As their thoughts circled, Rabbit winced when the tongue pierced their neck, feeling something pump into their veins and expected their movements to slow before stopping, maybe the feeling of their body slowly getting cold as their body was drained.

But neither happened, instead filled with an odd tingling sensation throughout their systems, the headache threatening them before suddenly bursting through, making them silently cry out in pain as it rebounded throughout their skull almost unbearably. When they blinked the spots from their vision they noticed they were smaller than before, struggles almost entirely restrained by hands far larger than before.

They would have been curious how his hand now encompassed their forearms, their surroundings slowly getting bigger, but panic and pain were working hand in hand to keep them distracted.

Rabbit was so distracted that they almost didn’t notice that Syrus had been talking through the entire process, trying to focus on that to think of something other than their situation. He was carefully lifting them up by their arms with one hand while the other cupped beneath them, used to support them while they continued to get smaller.

“You’re fine, you’re going to be fine,” he was trying to console them, something that they felt backfired since this was one hundred percent NOT FINE and only made them worry more.

Soon, they were small enough to fit in the palm of one of his hands, released from the other one.

They weren’t struggling anymore, once more thrown into shock in the last ten minutes, staring up at him in fear. They silently yelped as they were lifted up to his face, trying to back away as much as they could, but his fingers curled in. They effectively blocked them from the edge, which was both a blessing and a curse, keeping them from falling off, but now they were only a few inches at his mercy.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, confusing Rabbit.

Then he opened his mouth and they would have screamed if they could. The teeth that had fascinated them before no longer held the same harmless awe from before, glinting menacingly in the dim light that filtered in from the hall through the office window. The tongue lay over the bottom teeth and extended slightly, terrifying them that it would grab them and pull them in.

Instead they were jolted from their shock as he started to scoop them up from his hand, palm tilting towards his mouth and lifting up so that they had more difficulty trying to stay away from what they felt was a death trap below.

It was only a second or two before they were coaxed into his jaws despite their struggle, something that left them feeling absolutely helpless, kicking and punching in an attempt to get him to stop, to spit them out.

If this was supposed to get them to trust him, it was failing miserably!

They spluttered as they were jostled around the space by the tongue, terrified of getting caught or pressed against the sharper teeth. But each time they got close, the very same tongue would stop them from touching the bone. Eventually, after what felt like forever, they felt everything lift up beneath them. Scrambling to try and brace themselves against any surface, their heart sank in their chest, pressed against the roof of his mouth before the tongue moved with his swallow and they were forced to his throat.

And even as their struggles and shock got to them, they didn’t stop, barely able to wriggle in the restricting muscles of the esophagus. The sound of breathing and heartbeat were deafening, shaking them to their core as they slipped deeper. After a little while, they slipped through an opening, shaking in shock as they tried to process what just happened.

\-----

What felt like forever to both Syrus and Rabbit took less than a minute, the former shuddering at feeling the latter slip into his crop.

He felt horrible for springing this on them again, especially since they were wide awake this time, but he felt like he had no other option if he didn’t want them hurting themselves. He rested his hand lightly over his abdomen, feeling that they hadn’t moved and worried that they might be too far in shock and that humans could die from that. Concerned, he was tempted to try and coax them away from the edge, but he heard another one of the doctors calls from out in the hall.

He got up carefully, opening the door and glanced both ways.

Seeing no one, he picked a direction and started walking in it, trying to both keep stock of his surroundings and his insides.

“There you are!”

Hearing the exclamation behind him, he looked back and yelped when a shot fired off, barely missing him. He paled at seeing a shotgun in the doctors hands, hand tightening over his abdomen. If he was shot, there was a high chance that Rabbit could be affected or even die.

“Where’s my subject?!”

The doctor cocked his gun, enough to prompt Syrus to run down a corner in the halls, sprinting as fast as he could while hearing the doctors footsteps behind him. Each turn felt like it was only leading deeper into the ward, eventually coming across an actual medical room and having to turn around since that was the wrong way.

But the doctor was behind him at the end of the hall with the shotgun pointed straight at his chest.

He held his hands up in a placating manner despite the urge to curl in and protect his cargo. “Look, doctor, I’m sure we can be reasonable about this.”

Syrus bit his lip and resisted the urge to gasp as he realized he could feel Rabbit struggling again, obviously displeased from the sprint and probably being bounced around the organ. He watched as the doctor got closer and spat out, “Where did you hide my subject?! My dear Goddess wants her to be perfect!”

Thoughts racing, Syrus quickly responded, lying, “Sh-she’s hiding back in the office I had come out of…”

He hung his head in fake shame, as though he had just broken a trust, glancing up at the doctor with the hopes the lunatic bought it.

After a few seconds, the doctor sneered at him, gesturing him away with him shotgun.

“You’re too cowardly to be perfect,” he growled, “Katherine is going to have a talking to about worth when I find her. Now get your ugliness out of my ward.”

Syrus dipped his head gratefully as he skirted around the human, staring at the trigger finger to ensure it was off the trigger, slipping away and not waiting to see if the doctor found out his ruse. He quickly walked through the halls, following exit signs that now seemed obvious without with panic of a chase, seeing the entrance after only a minute or so.

“KATHERINE!”

The roar echoed behind him and urged him to sprint the rest of the way, running out of the entrance and through Rapture’s many halls, ignoring the Splicers that tried to give chase. He found another abandoned room and closed the door, panting as he leaned against it to catch his breath, able to focus on Rabbit. He felt the small movements of their struggles and placed a hand against his middle.

“O-Okay,” he panted, “I think we’re safe, please just ca-.”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as an excruciating pain erupted from his abdomen, screaming and doubling over as his vision blurred. Whatever had held Rabbit’s electricity back was gone and it felt like he’d swallowed a live wire or taser.

Quickly he worked to spit them out, tensing his crop muscles to squeeze them out despite the almost unbearable pain. He blacked out for a second because when he blinked again, they were at the back of his throat, electricity subsided somewhat. He spat them out as carefully as possible in his condition into his palms, glaring at them a little past the pain.

Syrus’ instincts wanted him to kill them, be it by enduring the pain and sending them to his stomach or chucking them across the room, but he forced himself to remember that they had probably only been terrified.

He let his tongue slip out and, pinning them down with a thumb into his palm, injected them with the anti-agent to unshrink them. Setting them on the ground, he stood up a little dazedly, moving away to not get electrocuted once they made their full size. He ended up sitting on the bed in the room, tattered as it was, clutching his stomach in pain.

Glancing up after another wave of pain racked his system, he saw they were gone.


	5. Shocking Developments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Syrus learns a bit more about Rabbit's past while Rabbit tries not to have a mental breakdown.

Their panting was all they could hear, echoed around them by the vent walls while they tried to process what had just happened. They hadn’t stopped crawling until they felt safe from the Doctor and Syrus, leaning heavily against the cold metal. It helped keep them steady and calm down somewhat from the ordeal.

After a few minutes, they felt more stable, but most of what they remembered was starting to fade. Just like their operation, they knew that they’d know the gist of what happened but they’d end up locking away details they didn’t want to remember.

They’d remember being eaten, but not the process or what it was like. Just another cautionary experience that left them on edge.

They weren’t sure how long they remained in the vent, but eventually they moved from where they had stopped and made their way to somewhere specific in mind. On the way, they’d occasionally peer out of the vents to see if there were any Little Sisters with Big Daddies around, preferring an escort of sorts where they were going. 

Eventually they were able to find a pair, the Sister skipping along on their quest for ADAM with a Rosie lumbering behind.

Neither were perturbed as Rabbit hopped out from the vent covering and they stepped towards the duo with the little girl waving excitedly, leaving Rabbit briefly wondering how old the girls actually were since they always seemed to remain the same age.

“Hello! Are you going to be an Angel soon,” the girl asked, waving the large syringe in her hands.

Rabbit shook their head, remembering their mask was probably on the ground in the Medical Pavilion and their heart skipped a beat as they felt an almost overwhelming sense of vulnerability. They lifted their hand up to the top of their scalp, making a bunny ears gesture.

“Oh, Ms. Bunny,” the girl raised her hands to her face in a comical and childlike display of surprise. “What happened to your mask? Did one of the other party goers take your mask?”

God, Rabbit wished that they could see the world as the Little Sisters did. They nodded in response, despite the fact that it was more dropped than taken, not wanting to spend too much time out in the open. They gestured to the Big Daddy questioningly, hand covered in green splotches that the girl recognized.

“Mr. Flowers? I guess you can borrow him for a little bit.”

They nodded gratefully, taking the girls' offered hand and walking to find one of the little holes in the walls for Sisters, carefully lifting them up and placing them inside. The girl waved at them before retreating inside, much to ‘Mr. Flowers’s dismay since it couldn’t follow and let out a whale-like moan. It was cut off by a grunt when they threw a green gobule that splattered on the Big Daddies suit before soaking in.

The yellow light of the Rosie’s helmet flickered to green and it turned towards Rabbit, ready to follow wherever they took it. And they wasted no time in walking to where they wanted to go: the nearest shower room.

Ever since that had been spat back up, they’d been desperately wanting a shower, having felt Syrus’ saliva dry on their skin and clothes. At this point, they couldn’t actually feel it on their skin, but a part of them still wanted to wash. Besides, they’ve been wanting one for days, even before getting cooped up to heal in the Medical Pavilion.

They had the Rosie stay at the entrance of the shower room before they turned on one of the only unbroken shower stalls in the area. After all, Splicers and Big Daddies didn’t care for showering, and the Little Sisters probably had their own special showers back in the hidden orphanage they occasionally reported back to. So, the majority of showers were either completely broken from Splicer fights or just simply didn’t work anymore.

The water was freezing as it rushed out of the showerhead, one of the showers with too much pressure rather than too little. It made Rabbit hiss at the cold pain when it pounded against them, stinging with what felt like icicles. But, they stayed beneath the current for a good long while, focusing on the cold pain as it washed away the built up grime and dirt from their form.

And it distracted and washed away the discomfort and fear from before, allowing them a sort of clarity that they didn’t have in their panic.

They watched the water drip down the tiled walls of the stall, blue electricity dancing from their body into the current as their body shuddered in the cold. And they turned off the water eventually, ignoring their shivers as they slid their overclothes back on and pulled their hair back. 

By the time they reached the entrance of the shower room, they weren’t surprised to see that the Rosie had meandered off, since it was used to simply to prevent Splicers from entering the showers. 

But there was one thing the shower couldn’t really fix, and that was the almost crippling sense of anxiety that came with not having their mask on. It almost made them tempted to go BACK to the Medical Pavilion to retrieve it, though they quelled the thought when they remembered the Doctor was probably furious at losing them again. They didn’t need to be tortured for punishment before being ‘perfected’.

So, to the vents Rabbit went, hiding away from anyone or anything that would maybe see their face. And, to hopefully hide from whatever bounty Fountaine may still have on their head.

\----

He spent a few minutes sitting on the bed with his arms pressed against his abdomen. The actual pain was gone now, but his insides still ran with minor currents of electricity, mostly affecting his heart and making everything twitch until it eventually faded away to his relief. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, flopping back on the bed with his muscles no longer convulsing and felt his body try to work out the soreness and nerve damage that came from the assault on his system.

Syrus remembered the radio in his pocket when he shifted and felt it dig into his leg. A little curious and also realizing it was still turned off, he clicked it on and immediately started getting feedback in the form of Atlas’ voice.

“-ou there?! Boyo, answer me if you’re okay!”

He was surprised to hear the edge in the human’s voice, pressing the button and responding, “Yes, I’m fine.”

“Oh, thank the Gods,” Atlas’s sigh was almost palpable. “I was able to get wind that Steinman came across a newcomer with Rabbit, and I could only guess it was you. What happened? I haven’t been able to get a hold of your radio for days, and I told you Rabbit was trouble from the start!”

Syrus didn’t like the human’s words, thinking that he seemed far too used to giving around orders. Then again, if it was the same Atlas he’d seen around in revolutionary posters around the place, he supposed it would make sense.

“I came across them injured and I didn’t want to just let them die. Besides, they had a good amount of information.”

“And what of the radio? Why haven’t you answered?”

“I had it off to not get Rabbit’s attention,” he explained. 

The room was silent for a minute or two with what he could only guess was Atlas trying to maybe figure out what to say next and he quirked an eyebrow while he waited before asking, “Atlas?”

“Ah, sorry Syrus boyo, I’m just trying to figure out what Rabbit might be up to, or how she could have even talked to you. What did she tell you? Any way to get out of this underwater hellhole?”

“They were writing,” he said, surprised that a part of him inside practically hissed at himself for divulging anything. But, he reasoned that he may as well try to get on this humans good side anyways, thinking him more stable than perhaps even Rabbit. “They told me the only other way out was being guarded by someone named Fountaine, but I haven’t seen any other humans around.”

“Oh, boyo,” the voice was filled with a sort of parental sympathy that had Syrus questioning what he did wrong. “Fountaine’s dead. Has been since 1958 in a shootout with Ryan’s goons… Did Rabbit tell ya anything about herself? Or about Andrew Ryan and his death?”

Syrus frowned, the tone suggesting the man knew something he didn’t. “No, why?”

“Well… Gosh boyo, where do I even start? Now, I’ll admit, Andrew Ryan wasn’t my favorite man since I was heading a revolution against him. But, I never wanted him dead. Some people thought I was too soft, but even if he didn’t have morals, I did. One of my number, named Jack, well… he tried to take it upon himself to get rid of Ryan himself, having worked for Fountaine before his death. I didn’t know this for years. As you may have surmised, those of us stuck down here are trapped at almost exactly the same age from when we had our first ADAM. Children were able to age normally, but once they hit eighteen, things slowed for them just like us. It caused a terrible overpopulation issue that only made tensions run higher as both sides got more and more people.

“Anyways, Jack and a few others wanted to KILL Ryan rather than just have him step down from his position of power, but most of us just wanted to be peaceful so he had to bide his time. Eventually a plane crashed in the water, just like with you, and brought Rabbit as one of the few Survivors. Jack had been in the welcome building at the time and took it upon himself to take the Survivors under his wing. I welcomed all with open arms, and all the while Jack convinced them that more direct and aggressive action was needed to get rid of Ryan, all under my nose. He built his own little army, Rabbit included as his right hand woman.”

Syrus heard Atlas take in a shaky breath, but didn’t say anything since this was more information about Rabbit than he could have hoped for, patiently waiting for the other man to continue.

“It… It all happened so fast. I woke up to some of my folks coming in to tell me that Jack and the more radical members of our group were missing. I had a bad feeling, so I rounded everyone up to try and find them. It didn’t take long to track them down to Hephaestus where the control room and Ryan’s Headquarters were. It was a bloodbath on all sides, my people having to not only fight Ryan’s goons who thought we were coming as backup for Jack, but Jack’s crew attacked us to keep us from stopping them.

“I was able to make it through the crowd in time to see Jack and Rabbit slip away to Ryan’s actual room where I could hear them shouting. I got a glimpse of Jack throwing a fireball out of the door which hit one of the power tanks. Next thing I knew, the control room was melting down and I was barely able to get out with a few of my mates before the whole control room blew up. A lot of people died that night, not just mine either. I have no idea how Rabbit made it out of there alive, but she probably thinks Fountaine is still alive because Jack insisted he’d survived the shootout and was just biding his time to reclaim what was his or something.

“Rabbit was close to Jack and blames Fountaine for his death since Jack had practically worshipped the guy,” Atlas sounded tired from retelling his tale. “She can’t accept the fact that Jack’s death was his own, Fountaine’s dead, and that the control room meltdown disabled almost all ways to escape from Rapture. Trust me boyo, I’ve been trying for years to get out of this place now that everything’s gone to hell in a handbasket.”

Syrus was quiet for a few minutes, mulling over all this new information that Atlas had given him. Of course, he couldn’t ask Rabbit for their side of the story, but they had refused to do so earlier which hadn’t helped their case. But he couldn’t help but remain a little bit suspicious.

“And how did you know Rabbit and I were in the medical wing?”

“I’m stuck in Fort Frolic right now and I overheard Sander Cohen talking about it since he and Steinman are all buddy buddy. Those two are some of the few proper humans in this place, but they’re still insane, just in their own way. Those two have been twisted by Rapture, but they’re still smart, which makes them more dangerous. Look, if you-”

There was the sound of a man in the distant background and the faint, staticky sound of piano.

“Ah, Sander just started his practice. Now’s my chance to get somewhere safer. I’ll radio soon, alright boyo?”

With that, the radio went silent in his hands as Syrus mulled the interaction over. 

So, this other human was at Fort Frolic.

\----

Rabbit wanted to figure out what the new Plasmid they injected allowed them to do, knowing it would be a bit of a process. Everytime a new Plasmid was introduced to their genome, they could sort of feel it beneath the surface, but they didn’t know how to tap into it yet. For their electricity, they had been in a high stakes fight against Splicers and would have died without the massive burst of electricity their body released on instinct. With the hypnotism gobules, it had actually been their desire to help a Little Sister in danger, a desire that corresponded with the main goal with the Big Daddies.

But they had no idea what may trigger this power to come out. A life threatening situation would probably be the quickest way to find out, but they didn’t want to just start throwing themselves in danger to figure out what they had injected themselves with.

What they did want was another damn mask though. They hadn’t realized how uncomfortable and open not having one made them feel, used to maybe a minute or so without it while wearing it at almost all other times. Leaving the vents felt like more of a challenge, as though invisible eyes could see straight into their soul without the mask to block anything from seeing their face which caused them to retreat back into the metallic casings in the walls.

It was a hindrance to say the least, and a distraction, one they couldn’t afford with Fountaine getting restless and seemingly out to get them more than usual.

It probably had to do with Syrus, a newcomer unlike anyone or anything that ended up down here before, something HE probably recognized and would try to exploit if he wasn’t already making an attempt. And, as much as their instincts wanted them to stay away from him after being eaten, they knew they’d have to keep him away from that lying bastard. They worried that with Syrus on his side, Rabbit’s time surviving in Rapture would be put to an end.

They looked at the bodies littering the hallways to find a suitable mask, but the ones they found were almost all entirely broken or only covered a section of the face. None of them had covered eyes like their mask and none really covered the lower half of their face.

They started growing frustrated. 

They knew that it was irrational to be attached to something so menial, but everything down here was irrational without many things that were constant or stable other than the threat of being gutted or attacked by Splicers. 

With a soundless snarl, they dropped the body they were checking after taking its bullets and started to storm off to continue searching. They heard the hum of a security drone and their hand went to their belt where they had placed a pistol nicked from a body, ready to shoot the thing out of the air if it came around the corner and started trying to make a ruckus.

The flying metal contraption came around the corner, but it looked different and bulkier as it turned to Rabbit. They drew out their gun, ready to shoot at the propeller but movement on the thing caught their attention. 

As a shot rang out from the bot, they noticed that it not only had a security camera attached to its underside that was staring at them, but it also had a shortwave radio on the side with wires connecting it to the camera that rabbit-eared from its side. This one was obviously controlled, but no Splicers were around, which meant that either the Splicers took a holiday from their junkie behaviour and used whatever brain cells they had left, or that this was being controlled by one of the more dangerous threats down here and modified for a longer range.

The bullet didn’t hit them, but it was close enough to set their nerves alight, cocking the hammer on their pistol as the camera swiveled towards them. A familiar click came from the machine gun as it placed another bullet in the chamber and the radio on its side crackled before a voice came through, a voice that pissed them off.

“Don’t be rash there Katherine,” the thick Bronx accent echoed a bit in the metal hall, making Rabbit bristle. “After all, I only have maybe ten of these at my disposal. I wonder what I’ll do if you break one.”

A threat. A not so subtle one at that, and they knew that depending on his mood that Fountaine would have no qualms about filling them with lead. Reluctantly, they lowered their pistol, though they didn’t put it away and was glad that seemed to be enough to keep from getting shot at this moment.

“That’a girl. Been looking for you all morning. Shouldn’t be surprised there’s rodents in the walls.”

Rabbit had a snarl on their face at the robot, wondering what Fountaine wanted if he was searching for them. He’d allowed them to mostly exist alone as long as they didn’t try to get too close or violent, knowing that they’d end up surrounded by Splicers again if they stepped too out of line. That didn’t stop him from putting a bounty on them or contacting Steinman though, the small line of coexistence between them quickly falling away.

“Heard about your little run in with Steinman,” Rabbit wanted to shoot the bot. Of course he knew about the run in, Steinman himself had said Fountaine gave him the tip. “I’m glad you were able to make it out with what seems like a new friend of yours. You have a knack of making those, but we both know what happened to Jack. You wouldn’t want that to happen to your new pal, would ya?”

They stiffened at the mention of Jack, a wave of rage crashing over them and they threw an electrical bolt at the security drone before they could stop themselves. It grazed the side of the machine despite it jolting out of the way, propellers coming to a halt and causing it to crash on the ground.

Despite the damage to the actual machine itself, the radio continued to work despite being full of static.

“You should really keep that temper of yours in check,” Foutaine’s voice echoed, sounding pleased and catching them off guard. “After all, neither of you have anywhere to hide. Not here, and not in Arcadia. And you better keep to yourself unless you want to be Sander Cohen’s puppet before being handed back to Steinman to finish his art piece. Hell, maybe they’ll collaborate on you since they both love their art so much. I’m sure you’d end up making one hell of a centerpiece.

“And if you do continue meddling, I’m gonna make sure you won’t have a chance to fight back at all. Not against them, and not against-.”

The radio suddenly cut off, despite the light on its side showing that it was on. The camera swiveled a bit in its socket and the whole thing was easily blown up with another blast of electricity.

The mention of Arcadia had their blood pulsing: that was the Garden, their home and where their Nest was hidden among the vents.

It was also the closest main building and they wasted no time making their way over to protect the plants if need be. Without the Garden, there was no oxygen, something Ryan tried to pull before he died. But this time there was no Botanist to bring the plants back to life if Fountaine decided to cut off supply and he’d no need to worry if he had his own personal source of oxygen.

Rabbit was pissed.

\----

Syrus had started following signs to try and get to Fort Frolic, finding out that he was in some sort of worker and storage section of Rapture and had to maneuver through more collapsed hallways to make his way to the nearest building to him that wasn’t back to where the Medical Pavilion was. The living quarters area had taken up a surprising amount of room, occasionally able to duck into a room to investigate and find the scattered remains of whatever snacks had been hidden away.

The blood from the Splicers around the place was enough to keep him going, but his body was also craving some real food and he couldn’t help but wonder for an unknown number of times how Rabbit had managed to survive this long. Either they had some sort of supply or they were one of the ones to resort to cannibalism like they had mentioned others doing. 

He was able to eventually find his way to the next building that was supposed to lead to Fort Frolic, walking through another one of the transparent, glass-encased connecting hallways and trying to not be off put by the dark water outside that was only somewhat lit up by whatever kept the outside lights going. Being in the more, to him, structurally sound buildings with metallic walls almost had him forgetting that he was at the bottom of the ocean if it weren’t for the damp chill and leaks everywhere.

In any case, as he entered the next building that had a sign labeling it as Arcadia, he started getting some sort of feedback from his shortwave radio. Probably from Atlas trying to contact him again, though it sounded unsuccessful.

Syrus didn’t want to leave the human unable to contact him again since he hadn’t even run into any evidence of Rabbit. Nor had he felt like he was being watched, finding everything too quiet and putting him on edge. So, he held the button of the radio and tried to make contact with Atlas as the radio stuttered.

“Atlas, are you alright?”

“-e. An-est-at-nce.”

The static was almost enough to make Syrus wince away from the device with the voice sounding warped and different, but eventually it cleared enough for the Irish man to get through, whatever distortion from before fading with the static and having him sound normal.

“-at do you need boyo,” there was an edge to Atlas’ voice, a terse sort of strain that made Syrus feel like he had caught the man off guard.

“I thought you were trying to contact me. I was getting some feedback from the radio, but it was mostly just static. Are you alright?”

“Ah, I’m fine lad, you just caught me at a bad time. Where are ya, the connection shouldn’t have been that bad for feedback.”

“I just entered into Arcadia,” Syrus said, stepping over an overgrown vine that had pushed up from the tile. It certainly didn’t help him feel better about the structural integrity of this building in particular if there were plants growing in and around it through metal.

“That might do it then boyo, place has overgrown beyond belief without anyone to clip the damn plants. Don’t get me wrong, they’re incredibly important since it’s the source of all our oxygen, but without any maintenance, eventually this whole portion of the city may very well collapse in my enhanced lifetime… I try not to think about it much…”

Syrus pursed his lips a bit, preferring to not think about it either, made difficult now that it was brought to his attention.

“In any case, what’re you doing in Arcadia boyo?”

“I figured I’d try my hand trying to make it to you in Fort Frolic. Safety in numbers,” he hoped the human wouldn’t be against any help with Atlas being the only other one in Rapture aside from Rabbit that probably knew the most. A sigh was his response.

“It’s dangerous in here boyo. If you thought the good doctor was bad, Sander Cohen is on a different level. They’re both insane, just in different ways.”

“I’ve made it this far, haven’t I?’

“I… I suppose you have,” the voice perked up a bit as though realizing something. “You know what, you’re right, Syrus boyo. It’s better if we stick together, even if there is no way out. Now, usually you have to be invited down to Fort Frolic since Sander Cohen has control of the entire place, but there are other ways in. I don’t know how Rabbit gets through here, but I might be able to hack a bathysphere over to you when he’s distracted.

“And actually, speaking of it,” there was the sound of moving followed by clicks and beeps before Syrus could hear something turn on from the other side of the radio. “Ah, perfect! Some of these drones are too busted up to work, but I got a connection with one near you that seems well enough to travel over. Think of it as your little flying bodyguard to help you get over here.”

Syrus heard a whirring sound in the distance, seeing a crudely made drone fly around the corner. It was smoking a little, but seemed fine otherwise and was equipped with a camera, radio on its side, and what looked like a gun. There was a click from the drone that had him stiffen until he realized it was from the radio, not the gun.

“Now I can just follow you with it to help with your progress,” the drone said, using the radio on its side to allow Atlas’ voice through. “Keep the other radio in case something happens to the drone though.”

Syrus got a feeling that he pushed aside for the time being, pocketing the other radio and asking, “Are you going to help lead me through Arcadia?”

“I’ll certainly try my best boyo, though I may have periods of radio silence with Sander around. Don’t want to get caught or lose control of the drone. Now come on, we have to be careful.”

The drone started whirring on ahead, stopping and turning the camera to make sure he was following as he was led into the main portion of the place. And he could see how it was the main hub of oxygen since it was almost like an entire forest was in here, though there were still bits that could be seen as man made like the little waterwheel against the wall that was stuck in place with rose bushes or the ceiling with what seemed like fake sunlight lightbulbs above.

Syrus followed carefully and Atlas commented, “Rabbit’s hideout is in here, so keep an eye out. I have no doubt the lass probably came here to recuperate after your adventure to the Medical Pavilion.”

“Would it really be so bad to run into them?”

“I told ya earlier boyo, Rabbit and I aren’t exactly on the friendliest of terms. If she hears you talking to me, you’ll be making yourself a target in her eyes. It’s best to just go through this as quick and quietly as ya can,” the drone’s propeller hit against a group of leaves, making a loud rustling noise and the drone seemed to flinch as Atlas overcorrected it. “It’s a wee bit difficult with this thing though…”

An electrical bolt whizzed from the trees towards the drone and missed, exploding against the tree it had just run into. 

Syrus quickly turned to look, but didn’t need to see their face to know it was Rabbit, glaring at him with intense rage. As another bolt was thrown at the drone, it jerked out of the way and Atlas cried out, “Ah, too late boyo, we’ve been found out!”

He looked back at Rabbit, who’s face had gone pale, and opened his mouth to speak. But it seemed that Atlas wanted to try the negotiations his own way and Syrus heard the sound of the gun loading bullets.

“Now Rabbit, we’re just wanting to go through. We mean ya no harm, alright lass? Not unless you attack us or make a nuisance of yourself.”

Syrus expected Rabbit to just throw another bolt, or use the gun that was at their hip, startled when instead they lowered their still crackling hands and just stared at the two of them. He looked up to the drone, seeing the gun focused on them and was confused as to why a bullet deterred them now. Though, they had just recovered from a gunshot wound, so maybe they didn’t want a repeat.

“We’ll be on our way, alright,” he raised his own hands in a placating gesture when the drone started slowly flying off with its gun trained on them. He wanted to try and say something more reassuring than that, but he wasn’t sure what he would say.

So, they left Rabbit where they were standing until they were out of view. The drone’s camera remained on a swivel, presumably keeping an eye out for Rabbit.

“You should pick some fruit on the way. Ya gotta take all you can get down here, and you’ll need your strength if we run into anything at Fort Frolic.”

\----

Rabbit couldn’t believe he had the fucking audacity to use that alias again, after what he did to Jack. The accent alone was enough to make them shake as the duo made their way through the trees out of sight, stuck in their own flashbacks in their minds' eye as they were forced to only watch them walk off.

It didn’t look like Syrus had noticed that while ‘Atlas’ was threatening them that the gun had been trained on HIM until he turned his head. They doubted he’d be as complacent if he did.

Once they were out of sight, they waited a few minutes with shaky breaths until they were certain that they wouldn’t be within hearing range. They threw a bolt of electricity at a tree in front of them, exploding it into splinters in a loud *crack*.

They panted angrily, turning from the tree and starting to head towards the vent where their Nest was as electricity arced out to touch the plants they brushed against as they walked. Eventually, they made it to the vent grate they needed and used a tree to climb up to it to open it and clamber inside. 

Or at least, that had been the plan.

They were appalled to find out that not only was the grate WELDED shut, but from what they could see it looked like the entire place had been ransacked. The space had blankets torn apart, stuffing from the pillows scattered all around the small crawlspace with blood trailed throughout. Whatever knickknacks they’d gathered were either broken, torn, or just missing and their pile of snacks and spare clothes were rummaged through with wrappers everywhere.

Rabbit was stunned, thinking whatever Splicer that came through was one lucky son of a bitch, but the fact that it was welded shut made it obvious to them who was behind it. Only three people were smart enough to think about locking the vents, and apparently one of them knew where they’d been hiding for over a year.

Oh, if Fountain wanted them out of his business, he was doing a horrible job not pissing them off.


	6. Casting Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rabbit tries to stop Syrus from meeting Atlas.

Syrus bit into the apple he had, the crunch almost imperceivable due to sharp teeth that easily glided into its flesh. It was definitely nice to have something other than rancid Splicer blood or stale and out of date snacks that littered the place, resisting the urge to eat the whole thing, core and all.

He could easily see why Rabbit had made their home hidden somewhere in here, with the air smelling less like decay and more like fruit and earth that reminded him of his actual home in the woods, trees that budded fruit almost too numerous to actually think of being able to eat them all, and a creek with what seemed like fresh water that ran through the whole section. Aside from a lack of animals from which he could procure fresh blood from, this place was absolutely divine. An oasis compared to the rest of the place.

He slaked his thirst with the water from the creek after eating his fill of the fruits that hung from the trees, not realizing how parched for real water he’d been for who knew how long until the cool liquid slipped down his throat and cleared away any bitterness that clung there from the last time he drank blood.

Syrus longed to have the comforts of home in the form of a shower, but he settled for splashing cold water against his face before straightening to continue following the drone that was being driven by Atlas and felt far more alert and invigorated from the place.

“C’mon boyo. I’m hesitant to stick around any longer in case Rabbit decides to try and sneak up on us,” the drone said, drifting a little bit away as Atlas seemed to be eager to leave and the camera swiveled around to look around the area as though something was going to pop out of the bushes in any moment. “She may have backed down before, but it doesn’t do well to underestimate anyone down here.”

Syrus nodded and wordlessly got up to follow his whirring guide out of Arcadia. Both of them didn’t really talk much, mostly because Atlas insisted that they keep talking to a minimum and also because it was very difficult to think of anything to say besides discussing their situations and a host of questions that plagued Syrus’ mind that would probably need a lot of explaining.

Besides, he’d prefer to ask them in person. Well, most of them.

He opened his mouth to ask Atlas a question, one he felt as very important, when there was the very faint sound of gunshot in the distant foliage. He quickly looked in the direction and couldn’t really see anything. This place really was big and overgrown.

“Hey, why’d ya stop Syrus?”

He looked up to the drone, the glint of its gun still off putting despite not having it in a raised position to fire. The camera that acted as Atlas’ eyes turned in its socket to look at him, and Syrus couldn’t help but imagine it as quizzical. 

“Nothing. I just thought I heard a twig snapping,” he lied, knowing that his hearing was better than a humans, with or without radio static. He couldn’t imagine that Atlas had heard it through the little radio on the side of the drone. Besides, it had been so faint that even he wasn’t sure whether or not he’d heard it, or whether it was just a noise from the propeller.

“Well, this place does offer a lot of hiding places. I’m not surprised you’re on edge, but we’re almost there. Ah, just keep following. I’ve got to go radio silent.”

The drone turned back to the direction they’d been walking in and Syrus vaguely noticed the light go out on the radio to indicate inactivity. He continued to walk after it quietly, now straining to hear anything past the drone and the rustling of the trees. He didn’t bother to try and talk to Atlas since he knew he wouldn’t get a response right now and he also didn’t want to possibly risk the human’s life before being able to get to him.

But, any doubt that he heard something was quickly thrown aside when suddenly there was the sound of an explosion which absolutely reached both of them. He whipped his head around to see bright orange through some of the trees and bushes before it faded into smoke. What didn’t fade were bright arcs of electrical currents that shone through the gaps in the artificial forest and slowly started getting closer. 

The drone’s radio got more staticky as it turned back on.

“Oi! What’d I tell ya boyo?! Rabbit looks to be on a warpath right now! Quick, this way!”

The drone quickly flew off after Atlas’ outburst and Syrus instinctively followed after it to not get lost in the forest. It wasn’t very hard to track it anyways, with branches and twigs constantly getting caught in the propeller that showered him in debris and caused loud clattering as the debris was cut aside.

Almost as though it appeared out of nowhere past the trees, he ran after the drone through a double doorway where the doors had been rusted open on either side of it. 

“This way,” Atlas exclaimed through the radio, the drone stopping momentarily to gaze between the halls as the drone reached an intersection ahead of Syrus. The sign on the wall was covered in ivy that had somehow snaked from the main area and decided to climb all over it before dying from lack of light in the corridor. 

‘Atlas’ swerved left and whirred down the hall while Syrus reluctantly continued to run. He was tempted to stop and try to talk to Rabbit since in his eyes, being on both humans good sides would be preferable. But, it seemed that Rabbit was indeed on the warpath, catching a glimpse of blue arcs at the rusted double doors as he rounded the corner to follow the drone from the intersection.

He picked up the pace, knowing first hand what electricity felt like coursing through his system and didn’t want to experience the full-sized version. 

He followed the drone through more hallways, down some steps, and past another round of rooms that led who knew where. Eventually, he followed the drone through another corridor that looked surprisingly less rusted. At the end were metal double doors that the drone stopped in front of, the camera whirling around to look at behind them.

“Quick boyo! It should be unlocked, you just got to open it,” Atlas instructed.

Syrus did just that, muscling through the doorway as the hinges screeched, the sound echoing painfully in the halls. He almost didn’t hear Atlas telling him to close the doors behind them. It took some effort, but he was able to do just that, though he wondered if it would actually stop Rabbit since they seemed rather persistent. But, as he closed the doors and panted a little from the run, he heard a curious sound and looked up only to hiss and look away.

Where the drone used to have a gun, there was now a welding torch, and it slowly started moving across the seams of the door to weld it shut.

“What are you doing,” Syrus bristled, jumping to stop the thing, but it only bobbed out of the way.

“Relax, Syrus boyo,” Atlas tried to reassure him as the drone repositioned and continued. “There’s multiple ways out of this corridor. We’re just blocking this one because it happens to be the one that we went through. And without the welding, Rabbit’s just going to catch up before I can hack a bathysphere to come get you.”

Syrus reluctantly backed down, deciding that if he really needed to get back out he could shoulder his way through in his beastial form. 

“There. That should hold ‘er off for now. I don’t doubt that she’ll weasel her way after us if we hang around for long though. C’mon, the Bathysphere Station is this way. Hopefully we can get one of them up here before she finds us,” the drone’s camera looked at Syrus before the whole thing started flying down the corridor again. 

He watched as the welding tool that the drone had just been using slid up into a square hole that opened up on the underside of the machine, being replaced by the gun once more before the hole closed back up.

Everything down here was from the 1900s, but everything was surprisingly advanced. Though he wasn’t REALLY surprised since he was in an underwater city of all things.

“The Bathysphere Station should be right around this corner,” the drone stopped beside the wall after a while, confusing Syrus before Atlas added, “I’ll need to make sure that Sander’s cameras don’t work in here for a little bit. It’s how he knows that people are at the Station and he’s able to start his show and trials. We don’t want him knowing you’re here lad, or he’ll send you through the seven hells to see if you’re worthy to be in his ‘performances’.

“That and I need to hack into one of these bathysphere’s. Gimme a few minutes boyo.”

Syrus saw the light click back off and figured that Atlas seemingly needed to concentrate on his hacking. He wondered whether it was more or less difficult than it would be nowadays above the water. He wondered how things would even be able to be hacked with such rudimentary technology.

From around the corner, he heard the faint sound of sloshing water. Before he could look though, the static sound from the drone caught his attention.

“There we are. Cameras look like they’re gonna be down for about ten minutes, and the bathysphere should have come up by now.”

The drone moved to fly around the corner and as Syrus followed, he saw that the corridor opened up into a rather large room. Steps led down to a circular platform that had it’s inside cut out to make a landing platform for a bathysphere that rested in its center while water lapped at the sphere’s metallic sides. Above the sphere was a flickering sign that read ‘To Rapture Metro’.

“Right, there ya go boyo,” Atlas sounded pleased with himself. “Now, the drone can’t fit in there, though you’re welcome to try to make it. So, it can’t follow you. I’ll have it here for a few minutes so that Rabbit can’t mess with the bathysphere mechanisms. You still got your radio too, so we can talk through that, but once you get to the Metro, try to find Sir Prize. It’s the gambling place, so there’s places for me to hide and plenty dark spots for you to sneak around in.

“Call me when you find it, but I’m gonna be radio silent when you go through. I’m sure you’re capable enough to handle yourself until then, right lad?”

“Right,” Syrus gazed at the bathysphere reluctantly. He waited a couple moments in case Atlas needed to tell him anything. But, once it became apparent that nothing more was going to be said, the light on the drone’s radio even turning off while the camera remained fixated down the hall, he grit his teeth and approached the bathysphere. Like when he’d first come down into the living nightmare that was Rapture, the inside was surprisingly put together. But this time, the door didn’t slam close of its own accord behind him.

He guessed that the lever in the center of the thing was what was used to make it move, and hesitated with a glance out to the drone before he pulled it. The thing lurched beneath his feet and the door slowly closed behind him before the whole thing went under, setting off his nerves a bit to see the water lapping up the glass window until the bathysphere was submerged..

Hopefully Sir Prize would be easy to find.

\-----

Of course Fountaine would weld the vent on purpose. Of course he’d know that they would try to catch up to Syrus and the drone in rage. Of course he’d send another drone to slow them down. Of course he’d use the drone to TAUNT THEM. OF COURSE HE’D BE TAKING SYRUS TO FORT FROLIC!

He fucking zipped that stupid drone around while taunting them with that stupid fucking Irish accent, the alias that he used to trick both them and Jack. He kept telling them to stay out of the way while goading them on by rubbing salt in wounds that had never healed from his betrayal, bringing back memories that had them shaking with guilt and rage. And he didn't SHUT UP until they had sent a particularly powerful electrical bolt through the drone to blow the thing up. It had taken them a few seconds afterward to uproot themself from the spot and give chase.

Threats be damned, they weren't just going to sit around and let him do what he wanted!

Rabbit couldn’t even hear their panting over the blood rushing in their ears and the electricity that crackled around them, each step leaving a sharp mark on the ground where they touched, the sheer potency enough to mar the metal flooring outside of the Garden. Poor plants that had grown out on the floor ended up getting zapped, though nothing started a fire as they turned left at the intersection. It didn’t really take a lot of guesswork to figure out where Fountaine was trying to lead Syrus.

Further down, following the same path that Syrus had just taken, they rounded the corner to the corridor that led to the Bathysphere Station and saw that the double doors were closed. They hadn’t even heard the screeching from the doors, but it was the only way to get through to the Bathysphere Station unless the duo backtracked at some point to take a different way.

They hoped that wasn’t the case as they approached the double doors. And if they went through here, maybe they could burst through and get to Syrus before he got on the bathysphere. They slowed a little as they approached, bracing themselves to grab the knob and shoulder the creaky door open.

And they bounced off painfully.

The impact sent them falling to the ground, jarred from the force that left a stinging pain in their shoulder. They stared wide eyed at the door in both panic and confusion. It shouldn’t be locked. There shouldn’t BE anyway to lock it, so why, why, WHY did it not open from the sheer force from their run?

They quickly got to their feet, turned the knob, and pressed against the doors again, confused with no response from the old metal. They glanced over the hinges and saw that they were indeed not very rusted, which meant the doors weren’t being hindered by the hinges. They tried to peer through the small slit between where the doors met and saw nothing but darkness, and a flash of anger went through them as they realized that the door was WELDED SHUT.

No. No. No, no, no, nO, NO!

Rabbit gritted their teeth, ignoring the blue sparks that surrounded them and arced to the doorway in their anger. Eventually, they couldn’t hold it back anymore and they pounded a fist into the double door while closing their eyes, willing it to open despite being welded shut. And the sound of screeching metal met their ears, making their eyes snap open in surprise.

Where their fist had connected with the metal, a sizable dent was embedded into it.

Their eyes widened at the sight, but they also couldn’t help but feel a thrill. This was Telekinesis. This was what the third Plasmid had been, the third ability they hadn’t been able to use yet. 

And it might just be their chance to reach Syrus by prying apart the door in front of them.

Feeling urgent since each second meant that Syrus could already be on the bathysphere, they placed their hands against the metal and tried to regain the feeling of absolute desperation to reach him, the will to tear through metal to reach him and get him away from Fountaine. But, it wasn’t working, and as each second ticked by, they were actually becoming more and more desperate than before.

Again, they slammed their fist into the metal door as hard as they could, crying out in silent pain when the metal didn’t budge and the impact sent a shock throughout their whole arm all the way to the bone.

FUCK!

They quickly turned from the door and raced back down the hall while trying to go through the place in their head in their frenzied state. They’d be able to get to Fort Frolic through the vent systems since it pumped everything through with oxygen, but they didn’t want to waste time crawling since that would take so long when the bathysphere could already be halfway there by now.

Even though running out in the open wasn’t the smartest thing to do, it was the quickest. And, if they reached Fort Frolic or the Metro before Splicers caught up, they knew that they’d back off. Even regular Splicers feared Cohen and his performances, though there were some unique ones that might prove a challenge when they got there.

As though the thought summoned them, they heard the clicking of metal on metal, turning the corner to see a couple of Spiders on the ceiling scuttling towards where they were. They didn't stop to fight them, sprinting past with barely a glance. Something that seemed to confuse the Spiders as one of them let out a questioning screech to its comrade, but Rabbit didn't care to stick around and muse on it.

Rabbit reached the intersection that led to the Bathysphere Station and the Garden, and they ran forward past the sign on the wall. The Farmers Market was supposed to be accessible by everyone regardless of bathysphere malfunctions and availability, just like every other interconnected building. They just hoped that there weren't too many collapses or blockages.

The entryway was rusty as they ran into the Farmers Market, the wooden sign rotting in the damp air. The air was stale and smelled both sickly sweet from rotting fruit and rancid from mold.

They didn't stop to take in their surroundings much, running as quick as they could to try and make it to a way out. They only stopped briefly to check a decaying map that was pinned up on one of the shop's walls to see where they needed to go. 

There were two ways to Fort Frolic from here and they tried to memorize both paths in case one was blocked. And they hoped that both of the ways wouldn’t be blocked, because then they’d have to waste time going through the vents.

Just like with the Pavillion, they'd tried to avoid Fort Frolic despite occasionally sneaking through the vents to listen to Sander Cohen's practices. The guy was real unhinged, but he did make decent music. Too bad it was accentuated with killing Splicers for art like Steinman.

While they ran through the Market, occasionally needing to double back when they met a dead end or took the wrong turn, Splicers grew aware of their presence. Most of the time, Rabbit would be around the corner by the time they realized they were there, so they didn't follow or couldn’t keep up. But a couple of the quicker ones or the ones that saw them in a more open space rather just a doorway or hall started trying to keep up with them. But, in their haste and after months of being down here, their endurance thankfully kept them going, despite beginning to slow.

Hopefully, they'd reach Fort Frolic and get away from the Splicers before they tired enough to stop.

After what felt like an agonizing amount of time, they not only lost the Splicers behind them through a couple sharp turns past the backs of shops but they also saw a sign that could barely be perceived as being labelled for Fort Frolic above one of the connecting waterways. There were a couple beams on the ground in front of the walkway, but it wasn't anything that they couldn't get past, and they ended up vaulting over them with no difficulty.

On the other side of the beams, they slowed to a stop, catching their breath from the sprint through the place. They were definitely glad they were healed from their bullet wound, otherwise they would run the risk of not only reopening it but also losing too much blood again without any medical supplies to staunch the flow. They didn't dare remain still for too long though, quickly walking to the other side with determination to find Syrus and somehow convince him to trust them more than Fountaine, knowing that it'd probably be tricky.

Rabbit knew firsthand how smooth the rat bastard could be, able to weasel himself out of almost anything.

Their determination faltered however when they reached the Fort Frolic building, stopping in the walkway. Inside, Fort Frolic was comparatively darker to the underwater waterway that was lit from the neon lights that still somehow functioned outside. It made it so that their nerves tricked them into seeing things in the dark.

They'd definitely have to be more careful in here. Already, they were tired from the trip out of the Medical Pavilion, something that felt like a lifetime ago but was only a few hours instead.

They steeled themself to walk into the building, shoes sinking into carpet on the inside. Cautiously, they remained close to the walls as they walked further in, occasionally closing their eyes to try and think of their mental map. But, the amount of time they'd been here outside of the vents was rare and there was barely any information they could glean from their surroundings. So, they were mostly going in blind. They definitely knew they were on the outskirts of Fort Frolic, not just because of the entrance by the Farmers Market, but also because any of the shops they came across were small, completely locked and abandoned.

Catching a glimpse of themselves in the glass from a storefront that seemed to be dedicated to more adult needs, Rabbit saw that while they weren’t actively sparking with electrical currents, their veins were glowing enough that they almost glinted in the dusty surface.

They tried to settle themselves so that the blue glow wouldn’t give them away, but the most they were able to do was dim the light. Which made them more frustrated and the lines glowed brighter with the emotion. Thankfully, it was mostly in their forearms since that’s where the bolts were supposed to come out of, so they rolled down their sleeves which was made easy since this shirt was a size larger than was meant for them.

With the glowing mostly taken care of to the best of their ability, they continued to stalk through the halls in the hopes of cutting Syrus off, staying close to the darker shadows as they tried to think of where he’d be most likely to go. 

They had to stop him from meeting Cohen or Fountaine.

Rabbit had no idea what Fountaine had in store for Syrus, but he didn’t exactly have a track record of being any more than a shifty, greedy lowlife that only fed on the suffering of others to make some sort of profit for himself. And Cohen wouldn’t hesitate to test his limits by probably forcing him through a gauntlet of tasks that would possibly risk his life.

Sure, Syrus was resilient and not very human, but they weren’t sure where his limits would be.

They might be scared of him, but they were more afraid of Fountaine and they couldn’t stand the thought of what a Fountaine-driven Syrus could do. They already felt like he was probably trying to twist Syrus’ perception of them and knew that with the Chupacabra on his side, they would probably be rooted out and killed on Fountaine’s whim if they failed to seperate the two men from communicating.

In their thoughts, they almost didn’t hear quiet steps on the tiled floor, the carpet left behind a few ‘alleyways’ ago. They carefully walked past a lump of plaster on the ground and peered around the corner to see who or what the footsteps could belong to. 

It was a Splicer if the deformed hands were any indication, and it wore a rather extravagant dress for being down here along with a bright red macaw mask. The quiet was cut through not just by their footsteps, but also very light humming that became more apparent as they walked closer, seemingly unaware of Rabbit’s presence.

Rabbit watched them carefully, debating whether or not they should risk trying to take the Houdini out. They were more agile than Splicers outside of Fort Frolic, under Cohen’s rule with his promises of glamor and EVE if they behaved. They were also the ones that usually ventured out rarely to collect more Splicers for Cohen’s practices when he ran out in the underwater entertainment area.

But they decided after a moment or two that doing so would only attract more attention to themself and they started to back away from the corner. Only to bump into something that hadn’t been there before.

The thing threw a hard and crusted limb around Rabbit, trying to put their neck in the crook of its elbow in an attempt to strangle them. 

They instinctively dropped to the ground, their jaw scraping a bit painfully against the plaster-crusted arm as they managed to slip out before the arm closed in on their throat. They rolled forward before quickly throwing their arm back and sending a bolt of electricity at their attacker.

The sound of breaking plaster graced the air as the bolt landed and exploded the coating on the Splicer where it had hit, making the Plaster Splicer convulse in place from the electrical shock and shards of plaster rained to the ground.

Rabbit moved to leap to their feet, perhaps to finish off the Plaster or to run down one of the ‘alleyway’s. But they had to roll to the side as they heard the sound of whooshing behind them, a fireball impacting where they had just been on the ground and leaving a scorch mark in the tile. A loud cacophony of flapping wings followed, and they knew that it had been the Houdini that did it.

Not wanting to fight on the ground, they lunged to their feet, running from the scene. Hopefully the Plaster and Houdini would fight each other since Plasters hated other Splicers.

There wasn’t the sound of a scuffle behind them though, which spurred their run on further since now they had to outpace the Houdini that was probably following them. They figured it’d be easy to try and lose it since there were lots of sharp turns and the entertainment building was massive. All they had to do was take a couple turns and find a vent to hide in for a few minutes.

They didn’t hear the flapping wings that signalled the Houdini becoming visible again, so that either meant that it had stayed behind, or it’s camouflage was lasting longer than it should.

Running around another corner, they soundlessly cried out and backpedaled in surprise at seeing a row of seven plaster statues blocking their path. They didn’t doubt that they were Plaster though, and started backing away carefully since usually Plasters didn’t attack unless your back was turned or you were close.

Usually.

All the statues lurched forward as Rabbit started backing away and they bolted in the opposite direction to avoid the Plasters as they started trying to run after them, the multiple footsteps echoing loudly. They ran past an intersection and the glass of the shop beside them exploded into shards from a large shard of ice. They instinctively flinched from the raining glass, seeing a bluejay themed Houdini in the corner of their vision as they continued to run.

Screw trying to lose the crowd behind them, if they could just reach a vent in the wall, they could pick them off one by one when they inevitably tried to climb in after them.

It felt like forever before they caught sight of one of the vent entrances on the wall above a bench. They didn’t waste any time trying to make a beeline towards it, almost stumbling off the bench in their haste to get up to it. They tried to pry the grate off, electricity glinting off the deformed edges.

It was welded shut.

How many fucking things in this place are welded now?!

Rabbit was getting more harried as they scrambled off the bench, a large icicle hitting the wall from one of the Houdini’s or maybe another one that was probably drawn to the commotion. They tried to find a vent that wasn’t closed off, but every single one they came across was welded like the first. And it wasn’t helped by the fact that they seemed to have the entire Splicer population in Fort Frolic after them. 

It was all they could do to get a couple shots off on the Houdini's when they saw them, the Plasters coating making it difficult to get a killing shot on them and they were being surprisingly cooperative with the others.

When Rabbit reached another vent, not surprised to see it welded shut as well, a puff of something was blown out. It dissipated into the air after causing them to cough a bit from the dusty air. They backed away from the vent, ready to run off again to escape the Splicers following them, but they noticed the lack of fireballs, ice shards, and heavy footsteps from Plasters.

They glanced back to see the Plasters had stopped in place, so still that they looked like the statues they were coated to look like. The red edge of a dress was the last of what they saw from a Houdini that retreated down one of the ‘alleyway’s.

Immediately, they were suspicious, glancing around their surroundings warily before resting on the vent. It had to have been some sort of pheromone for the Splicers. There was no other way that all of them would have given up their quarry, especially when presented in the maze-like halls of Fort Frolic.

They wished they had the ability to become near invisible like the Houdini’s, now feeling paranoid of every shop window and dark corner for someone to be lurking or a camera that was watching them.

They cursed themselves for their inattentiveness, certain that Cohen probably had cameras littered all over the place to keep an eye on his domain.

Rabbit didn’t want to stick around, turning to walk in the opposite direction of the Splicers. They were met with the sound of compressed air and a sharp pain in their arm. Something unfamiliar was starting to spread from where they were hit and they fumbled to take the object out. Their hand came away with what looked like a dart, mind going to the cliche tranquilizer darts that one sees in movies.

Liquid dripped out of the end and their eyes widened.

They quickly dropped the thing and bolted, not really caring where they were going as long as it was away from there. They hadn’t seen where the shot came from and they didn’t know how far from them the gunman was, but if whatever was injected finished circulating through their system, they’d be defenseless. Already, their legs and arms were feeling heavier, noticing their steps slowly becoming more unbalanced as their vision slowly unfocused.

A figure stepped out from one of the ‘alleyway’s and Rabbit tried to throw out an electrical bolt at them. Nothing happened and they forced themselves to stop, reeling from the fact that they couldn’t use the Plasmid that was usually so readily available. 

Adrenaline and need kept them from shaking as they reached for their gun, raising it to aim at the figure. And they would have been able to get a clean shot off, but the blood roaring in their ears kept them oblivious to footsteps that quickly approached, so focused they were on the figure.

Hands wrestled with their own and the gun dropped to the ground with a clatter, their arms wretched behind their back as they struggled to escape the grasp that held them.

“Hurry up and shoot,” the voice that exclaimed by their ear was enough to send shivers down their back and they bucked wildly to try and escape the hand holding their arms.

“To think, I’d be getting my hands dirty for this,” the figure from before drawled, as it stepped closer into the light. His face was caked with pale makeup, eyebrows drawn in with dark pencil over his painted brow, mustache immaculate and eyeshadow glittered in the dim light.

Sander Cohen looked almost entirely uninterested and bored as he held up a pistol, aiming it straight at Rabbit’s chest as he flipped off the safety. The liquid from before made them too sluggish to try and break free to avoid the shot, though they were able to get a decent hit that had their assailant sucking air through his teeth.

But it wasn’t enough as the sound of compressed air came from the gun and they felt a stabbing pain where Cohen had shot the dart into their ribcage. The hands that had been holding them in place before now supported them as their legs started to crumple beneath them, a headache forming from trying to fight off whatever was in their system.

“You’re getting your hands dirty,” Steinman spat out sarcastically, shifting his hold on Rabbit and making them internally grimace at the motion. “You’re not the one that was holding her back!”

“Yes, but I was almost shot,” Cohen raised a hand to his chest, looking scandalized.

“And who prevented that? What would Aphrodite say if I was unable to continue my work?!”

The two continued to bicker as Rabbit was hefted up. They wanted to scream, they wanted to shout, bite, kick. They wanted to do anything, but as the drug kicked in, the only thing they found themselves wanting was to be embraced by the warm dark oblivion that beckoned them inside their head.

\-----

Syrus had found Rapture Metro to be rather gaudy, colors that used to be bright faded by time and salty air, paint peeling off of the metal walls. The place looked like an old fashioned train station, but instead of train tracks, there had been about ten Bathysphere Stations. Most were broken or empty, but it made sense to have so many if this was the main entertainment building.

True to word, he resisted the urge to contact Atlas so as to not endanger the human. He remained careful and cautious as he walked out of the Metro, seeing that it was pretty dark in comparison there. But, he still had no issues seeing as he stepped into Fort Frolic.

Barely lit dark halls branched off, but the hall in front of him was wider and obviously meant for the most amount of foot traffic. He stayed close to the walls of the hall, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to himself. Though, he noticed that through the halls he could see that there wasn’t anyone around, Splicer or otherwise. There was the occasional statue that seemed out of place, but those didn’t really seem like cause for concern if this Sander Cohen was an eccentric artist.

He noticed that at the end of his larger hall, there were lights brighter than anything out here, and he guessed that it was probably the center of the place. And indeed, as he drew closer, he noticed that it didn’t look unlike a large plaza. It was difficult to stay in the shadows now that he stepped out of the hallway, though he did try his best. 

The plaza was actually a very large atrium, the roof letting in the neon light that was outside in the water, a shoal of fish swimming past above the glass. A large fountain was in the center of the atrium that branched out to a multitude of pathways from it and he noticed that there were stairs leading up to a second level that seemed to double the amount of shops and entertainment down below. 

One place seemed to take up both the first and second floor directly across the hallway Syrus had come through, extravagant doors that showed still vibrant colors as though it was carefully maintained. A large sign was plastered on the front of the section, boasting a massive old theatre sign that read “Fleet Hall Theatre”. There was a place beneath it to switch out letters for showings to advertise, but the letters there now seemed random and Syrus didn’t doubt that they hadn’t been replaced in a long time.

Syrus forced himself to look away from the spectacle of lights that still seemed to work down here, and scanned the storefronts that he could see for Sir Prize. He found it on the top floor, marked by a knight’s helm in neon lights and the words ‘SIR PRIZE: GAMES OF CHANCE’.

The gambling place may have plenty of hiding spots within, but there weren’t many spots to even attempt to hide while getting up to it. It made him hesitant to leave his spot, but the longer he waited the longer he’d have to wait for his answers, and the more danger he put the other human in by prolonging. So he reluctantly peeled himself from the spot and looked around for any sign of Splicers.

Seeing none, he walked up the steps as briskly as he could without making noise. Each step he made sounded painfully loud, but he reasoned that it was probably because of his enhanced hearing. He made it up the steps without incident and didn’t hesitate to walk straight over to Sir Prize, glancing inside and around briefly before walking into the open doorway.

He didn’t hesitate to find the nearest shadow and hide there as he inhaled. 

The bitter and foul smell that practically permeated all of Rapture was still in the air, along with the chemical of Splicers. But, beneath it, he very faintly smelled a more human scent. It was different from Rabbit’s of course, but it let him know that either Atlas was here or Sander Cohen.

Syrus looked around and cautiously made his way further into the casino, listening for any movement that could give anyone away. He spent a few minutes scouting around the place, but he only heard and saw the broken machines that were all over the place. Pulling out his radio, he flicked it on and pressed the button to speak. 

“Atlas? I’m in the casino.”

He waited a few seconds for a reply, raising an eyebrow when there wasn’t one. At least, not for about a minute. At which point, the radio crackled with reception and the Irishman’s voice rang through.

“Syrus boyo! Man alive! I worried for a few minutes that you may have gotten into some trouble without the drone there,” Atlas’ voice was tinged with relief. “Come to the back, boyo! I’ll meet you halfway.”

“Alright.” Syrus watched the light go off as Atlas’ words died off. He pocketed the radio and followed instruction, carefully walking past poker tables and slot machines until he saw a man coming towards the front.

With his better vision, he saw the man had black hair that was parted to the man’s left and caucasian skin. A yellowed white button up shirt was tucked into pants that were helped up by suspenders. The man looked positively relieved to see him, outstretching his arms gladly.

“Boyo! I never thought I’d see another person who didn’t want to kill me,” Atlas beamed, exclamation still trying to be somewhat quiet. He lowered his arms, holding a hand out for a handshake. “It’s a right pleasure to see ya in the flesh.”

“Likewise,” Syrus shook the man’s hand, trying to decipher his instincts. The man had been nothing less than help, so why was he feeling so on edge around him? Especially when it was just another human?

“The Splicer’s are being oddly quiet today, but I don’t doubt that they’ll be swinging around here at any time, so we should move somewhere safer.”

Well, at least he wasn’t the only one to notice the odd behaviour or lack of Splicer’s.

“Is there anywhere in Rapture that’s safe,” Syrus asked, finding that he thought that Arcadia had been the closest thing he’d found so far to be considered a safe place.

“Not in the conventional sense, but if we leave out the back door we can sneak into one of the old pubs and block it up. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of questions, and I’d be glad to answer them,” Atlas gave Syrus a reassuring smile.

“Alright, sounds good to me,” Syrus replied. It wasn’t like he knew any place around here.

“Perfect! Now, be careful boyo, there’s still a couple tripwire traps around here,” Atlas turned and started leading him towards the back where he guessed there was another way into the casino. It certainly would have been nice to know since he had hated walking through the lit up atrium.

True to word, they came across a couple tripwire traps, but were able to easily step over the ones they came across, or even just went down another aisle of gambling machines. After a few minutes, Atlas led him into a back area that seemed to encompass a manager’s office, storage room, cleaning room, and all the basic necessities that were required in a business building. They walked up to the back door that probably led out into an alleyway of sorts where they could go to and from while stocking the back room.

“Sander’s been trying to perfect his practices because ever since he heard that you were down here. He’s been hoping you’d come through to see one. Or even be a part of them, and trust me boyo, that’s one role you usually don’t come back from,” Atlas shuddered, reaching for the door and poking his head out.

“Alright, coast is clear lad. Just stay close to me,” Atlas waved Syrus after him and both men entered a back alleyway area. Atlas quietly closed the casino back door and walked down the alley.

Syrus followed, watching the man intently as they moved through the maze of a place. Eventually, they came across one of those misplaced statues in the middle of the back alley. But, instead of ignoring it, he was caught off guard when Atlas actively pulled a gun out on it.

“Oi! I didn’t know the feckin’ Plasters came back here!”

“What are you doing, and what’s a Plaster,” Syrus asked, looking at the statue in confusion backing up along with Atlas to put distance between them and it.

“It’s a Splicer coated with plaster, hence the name. Unnatural is what they are, moving when yer back is turned and silent as anything despite the hard coating,” Atlas kept his finger on the trigger, but started trying to nudge Syrus back with his elbow. “As long as we stay away, we should be fine, they’re mostly just territorial.

“Christ,” Atlas exclaimed as he turned around, causing Syrus to look as well.

The whole thing about Plasters being quiet was certainly true, about five of them situated behind the duo when there hadn’t been any beforehand. 

“What do we do-,” Syrus’ question was cut off as the statues moved towards them, footsteps suddenly ringing on the tiled floor now that they were going in for the attack.

Atlas managed to fire a couple rounds before a Plaster lunged forward, wrapping plaster covered arms around his torso. A second Plaster joined the first and soon he was trapped between the two.

Syrus moved to try and help the man, but he was blocked by four of the things. He was able to dodge for the most part, but his hits scraped painfully on plaster, causing his knuckles to bleed and his shins the smart. He grabbed a scrap of twisted metal from the ground, bashing the plaster of one’s head and causing chunks to fall off. From between the ones blocking him, he saw Atlas struggling as two more entered the alleyway and helped the first two whisk the human away.

“A-Agh, just run boyo! They’ll be slowed down by their coatings!”

But Syrus refused to just let the human be taken, breaking the four Plasters that remained behind, even if he did take a couple hits from them himself. A well timed hit here, a forceful jab into their chest there and soon all four Plasters crumpled to the ground, white dust and chunks of fake stone littering the ground while blood stained it all.

He panted, gripping the metal piece in his hand as he tried to run after Atlas and his Plasters, but it was already too late. He tried in vain to search the back alley and found no sign of them, and any protests the human had were silenced. He tried to smell around for the humans scent to see if he could track him, but there was only the trash that littered the alley, blood, and smell of artificial rock from the Plasters.

Now he was stuck in an unknown section of the underwater city with no guide and no goal aside from trying to get Atlas back if he was still alive.


End file.
